Derek and Meredith Meet in College
by KateGreysFan
Summary: Pretty selfexplanatory. Meredith is a freshman at Dartmouth so what happens when she meets an attractive older man? Other characters include Cristina, Burke, George, Mark and Addison. Pairing: MerDer. FINISHED ON APRIL 2ND!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I wrote this last summer and decided to put this on here as well as my other story ("Sometimes Life Is Just Too Much" and Alex/Addison/Mark fic). The title of this one is pretty self-explanatory. Enjoy :) And as always, feedback is appreciated!**

** Disclaimer: I of course do not own Grey's Anatomy.  
**

Meredith looked out the window as she and her mom approached the Dartmouth University campus. Her mom looked down at the address on the paper and up at one of the residential halls. "Okay Meredith," her mom said, "Here we are."

Meredith got out of the car and grabbed her suitcase and as many bags as she could carry, while her mom grabbed a few boxes. Meredith excitedly ran up the steps of the brick building, checked in and received her room key. She waited for her mother and then proceeded up the stairs to her dorm room.

When she made it up the stairs to the third floor she saw that her door was open. Inside was a tiny Asian woman yelling at her daughter about how to arrange the furniture. "No Christina," the woman said, "If you put your desk over there you'll have a better view of the television from your bed and you'll have much more floor space."

Christina seemed less than thrilled with her mother's advice, but obliged. She rolled her eyes as she moved her desk and saw a thin girl with dirty blonde hair at the door. "Hi, I'm Meredith Grey," the girl said.

"I'm Christina Yang."

"Nice to meet you," Meredith said as she walked in. "I'm guessing this side of the room is your half?" Meredith asked as she looked at the bed covered in boxes and a desk that Christina's mother was positioning against the wall.

" Wow, you're a smart one," Christina sarcastically replied.

"Hey, be nice Christina. I don't know what I did to raise such an unpleasant girl," her mother said. "I'm her mother, Mrs. Rubenstein of Beverly Hills."

"Nice to meet you. This is my mother, Dr. Ellis Grey," Meredith said as she nodded toward the woman walking in the dorm room.

Christina's head perked up at the mention of Dr. Grey's name. "Wait, your mom is Dr. Ellis Grey? As in _the_ Dr. Ellis Grey? As in the Laparoscopic Grey Method Dr. Grey?"

Meredith nodded and Ellis smiled weakly at the girl. "Wow. We should definitely get along then."

"You're pre-med?" Meredith asked. Ellis left the room to go back to the car and get more boxes, while Christina's mom continued to hang curtains and rearrange Christina's furniture.

"Hell yeah! Are you?" Christina responded.

"Eh, maybe. I don't really know what I want to do with my life at this point."

"Your mother is Ellis Grey, and you're actually considering not going into medicine? What's wrong with you?"

"I still have plenty of time to figure it all out." At this point Ellis returned with the last of Meredith's boxes from the car.

"Alright Meredith, I must get going in order to get back to the hospital in Boston. I only got today off and I have a surgery scheduled for early tomorrow morning. Have fun."

"Okay Mom," Meredith said, slightly disappointed that her mother wouldn't be there to help her unpack and move into her new home for the next year of her life. Ellis gave her daughter a weak hug and left the room. Meredith sighed.

"Hey, if your mom is anything like my mom, be glad she isn't here" Christina quietly told Meredith as she nodded over to her mother who was still meticulously trying to decorate Christina's side of the room. Meredith laughed and started unpacking.


	2. Chapter 2

An hour or so later Christina's mother finally left and Christina and Meredith got a chance to talk while they were still trying to make their closet-sized dorm room feel like home.

"So what's it like having Ellis Grey as a mother?"

"Well, she's working pretty much every hour of every day, so I never really see her. I pretty much raised myself."

"Seriously? God that had to be nice. I couldn't escape my mother. She's there—always there. Redecorating my bedroom while I was at school, picking out what I should wear to prom—which I didn't want to go to by the way—trying to get me to go get facials with her and go to get my nails done…I can't believe I'm finally free!"

"Well being free _definitely_ has its benefits. I never had to have those awkward mother-daughter conversations about sex since she wasn't there enough to know, let alone care, what I was doing."

"Oh man, please tell me you're not going to be one of those roommates that sexiles their roommate on nightly basis." Christina pleaded.

"Sexile?" Meredith gave Christina a blank stare as she grabbed a Coke from the mini-fridge.

"You know, when you bring back a guy so you kick your roommate out for the night so you can hook up—you exile them so you can have sex."

"Oh. I don't think we'll have too much of a problem, but maybe we should make a code for that…something a little less obvious than a scrunchie on the doorknob."

"Um…how about writing 'DND' for 'Do Not Disturb' on the dry erase board outside on our door?"

"Fair enough. So how do you know about my mother anyway? Not many college freshmen are interested in the Laparoscopic Grey Method."

"Are you kidding? I've wanted to be a surgeon for as long as I can remember. I would do anything to get out of the house so I spent a lot of time at the library looking up medical school information on the internet and reading about medical procedures."

"Damn, that's dedication. She's my mother and I'm not even that interested in the surgeries she's pioneered." Just then there was a knock at the door. "It's open."

A guy opened the door and stepped into the room. He was average height, was cute in the boyish sort of way, and had a brown crew cut. "Hi, I'm George O'Malley, I live down the hall and I just wanted to come by and introduce myself."

"Hi George, I'm Meredith, and this is Christina." George looked at the two women whose room he was standing in and immediately knew he wanted to become friends with them. He felt awkward standing there, and hoped that they couldn't tell. Meredith broke the silence: "Have you talked to anyone else on our floor? Anyone we should go out and meet?"

"Um…no one too exciting yet. I think everyone is still getting used to this and realizing the pressure of making a good first impression." George started to feel even more awkward as he realized he revealed to the two girls his own insecurities. He quickly tried to make himself sound like he wasn't socially-retarded and that he was a cool guy. "I've heard there is a party tonight at the frat house across the street…would you guys be interested in going?"

Meredith looks at Christina and then back at George. "Yeah, that could be fun. What time are you heading over?"

"I think my roommate said he was leaving around 10 or 10:30, so sometime around then?"

"Great, just come knock on our door before you leave and we'll head over there with you," Meredith told him.

"Cool. It was nice meeting you." He walked out into the hall, closed their door, and walked back to his room a few doors down.

"A frat party, seriously?" Christina asked Meredith giving her a skeptical look.

"What? We need to meet people. I don't want to spend my first night at college in my dorm room."

"Fine. I've been feeling the need to get drunk anyway."

Meredith chuckled to herself and laid back on her bed. "That's the spirit."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I know this starts off pretty slow, but it gets really good I promise. This was the first fic I ever wrote, and I'm too lazy to go edit it all, so yeah, just bear with me.**

Meredith drifted off to sleep but was awakened by her stomach growling. "Ugh. Christina I'm starving, want to brave it and try out the dining hall or order a pizza?"

"Pizza is already on its way. I ordered it a half hour ago."

"Sweet." Meredith rolled over and looked at the clock on her nightstand. "Damn, I've been asleep for 3 hours?"

"Yep." Just then the phone rang and Christina grabbed money out of her wallet and went downstairs to pay the pizza delivery boy. When Christina returned to the room and saw George sitting on her bed. "George?"

"Yeah?"

"Get off my bed."

"Oh, sorry." George got up and went to sit on the floor but Meredith scooted over on her bed to let him sit down. "Oh, thanks." He grabbed a piece of pizza and the three sat, ate and talked while watching television.

George had left after the pizza was gone and Meredith started to hang up her clothes from her suitcase while trying to decide what to wear. Christina started digging through her dresser, throwing everything in her way on top of her bed. Meredith saw the mess she was making and giggled to herself "Just keep all your crap on your side of the room please."

"I'm not making any promises I can't keep," Christina said.

The two roommates got dressed, put their makeup on, and did their hair. They were both attempting to look hot without making it obvious that they were trying. "Why do we care, seriously? It's not like the guys there tonight are going to be sober enough to care what we look like anyway" Meredith said.

"Yeah, well, you never know." Christina said nonchalantly. Meredith was surprised how nice Christina looked when she was ready to go—earlier in the day Christina had on a pair of workout pants and a plain t-shirt and gave the impression that she really didn't care about how she looked. Christina was wearing a cute blue halter top and a pair of nice jeans, while Meredith chose a short jean skirt and a black spaghetti strapped tank top with some subtle beading on it.

Just then there was a knock on the door. "Ready to go?" George was standing there in khaki pants and a green polo shirt. Christina and Meredith nodded and the three walked out.

"What happened to your roommate?" Christina asked.

"Oh, he went out to dinner earlier and hasn't come back yet. I'm guessing he'll just go over there on his own."

"Do you guys get along?" Meredith asked.

"Eh, he seems okay. He's kind of arrogant, but whatever."


	4. Chapter 4

The trio walks up to a huge Victorian looking house across the street from their dorm and immediately notice the massive amount of people. "Well you wanted to meet people, Meredith, so you definitely get your wish." Christina said.

"Seriously." The three walk up to the front door and walk into the house. It's crowded and in what appears to be the living room is a full out dance party complete with a DJ. "Welcome to college, guys" Meredith says.

Christina rolls her eyes. "Yeah. Now where is the alcohol?"

"Upstairs…third floor. Go ahead," a random guy says. Christina nodded and grabbed Meredith and George's arms and headed up the stairs. As they go up the stairs they notice that there are fewer people than downstairs and there's actually room to move around and talk.

On the third floor they walk into a bedroom that has been converted into a bar. "Beer is over there," a guy says, pointing to the keg in the corner, "and we have all the hard liquor you can drink back here. Help yourself."

Christina grabs a bottle of Smirnoff vodka and pours herself a shot and pours some into a plastic cup and mixes it with Coke as well. Meredith spots the half-empty bottle of Jose Cuervo tequila on the end of the bar and takes a shot. George returns with a cup of beer. "Want to go meet people?" George asked.

"Nah, I'm good here for awhile," Christina said as she took the shot of vodka and starts drinking the vodka & Coke.

"I think I'm going to stay up here and talk to people, and keep an eye on her," Meredith said as she nodded toward Christina who is pouring herself another shot.

"Not a bad idea. I'll catch up with you guys later," George said.

"This party is becoming more fun by the minute," Christina said as she took her second shot of vodka.

"Clearly. Now it's my turn to catch up." Meredith poured herself another shot of tequila and downed it like a pro.

"Ooo, tequila is hard to take by itself," a guy said behind Meredith's shoulder. She turned around to see a gorgeous guy in a red button down shirt standing behind her smiling. "You must have had a lot of practice" he said as went behind the counter to pull out a brand new bottle of scotch from a cabinet.

"Actually, I've never had tequila before. It's pretty damn good though," Meredith said, only able to take her gaze away from his dark wavy hair and blue eyes long enough to down another shot.

"Really? Well, be careful. You know what they say: '1 tequila, 2 tequila, 3 tequila, floor.'" He leaned on his elbows on the bar and looked her straight in the eyes. She felt her knees give out for a second and she quickly grabbed onto the barstool next to her.

"Well, looks like my next shot will do me in then," she said, enjoying the attention.

"Well, then I'd advise against that. The party is only starting."

"That sounds like a challenge," Meredith said as she poured one more shot of tequila. She quickly drank it and looked back at the guy standing across from her. "See? No problem."

"Impressive." He said, and he grabbed his drink and walked out from behind the bar. "I'll see you around." He smiled at her and winked, and then walked away to talk to some other people.

"Who was that?" Christina asked her friend as she finished her vodka and Coke.

"I have no idea," Meredith said as she followed the guy with her eyes as he left the room. "Isn't he hot though?"

"Seriously. Those eyes? Talk about dreamy," Christina said.

"Seriously."

**A/N: well there you go…Derek is officially in the story. Dun dun dun. Haha. **


	5. Chapter 5

Meredith and Christina continued to stand by the bar and Christina continued to take shots with random people who came over to talk. George came back in the room about an hour later and saw that Christina was noticeably drunk. "Is she okay?"

"I think so. She's probably had a few too many," Meredith said as she took another shot of tequila.

"Should we take her back to the dorm?" George asked, appearing genuinely concerned.

"It couldn't hurt, she's already made out with two different guys and hit on a girl who had really short hair who Christina probably thought was a guy."

"Christina, let's head back," George said as he walked over to her. Christina protested at first but Meredith convinced her to go. They started down the hall when Christina had to puke into a trashcan. "Yeah, let's definitely take her back." They started walking down the stairs and headed for the door when Meredith saw the guy she was talking to earlier standing in the corner talking to some girl and another guy. He saw her looking at him and he excused himself from talking with his friends and started to walk over to her.

"You know what George? I'm gonna stay here a bit longer. Go ahead and take Christina back to our room, and I'll see you later."

"Are you sure you're going to be okay to get back by yourself?"

"Yeah I'm fine. It's only across the street. I won't be too long."

"Okay, be safe," George said as a drunk Christina hung onto his shoulder as they walked out the door.

"Hey again," Meredith heard a voice behind her. She could feel his breath on her neck and it sent tingles down her spine.

"Hi," she said as she turned around to see the gorgeous guy she had flirted with earlier.

"It's nice to see you're still functioning and not passed out on the floor someplace."

"Yeah, well, I handle my alcohol well," Meredith said as she took a step closer to the guy.

"Well in that case, would you like something else to drink? They finally brought some of the alcohol downstairs." Meredith nodded and he led her to the kitchen where there was a giant Gatorade cooler filled with punch. He grabbed a red plastic cup for her and poured her a glass and then poured one for himself. She tried it.

"Wow this is really good…what is it?" She asked.

"Only Dartmouth's finest jungle juice mixture…red Gatorade and Everclear. It gets you drunk pretty quickly," he answered.

"Well we'll see about that," she said as she took another sip.

"Would you like to dance?" He asked her as he nodded toward the dance floor. She agreed and he took her hand as some random techno dance song came on. She continued to drink and they danced for a few songs when she finally started to feel the effects of the liquor. She started to trip and he caught her. "You okay?"

"Yeah. I think Dartmouth's finest jungle juice is starting to hit me," she said as she stumbled again, this time bumping into some random couple that was making out on the dance floor next to them. "Oops, sorry."

"Alright, let's get you someplace where you won't knock anyone else over," he said as he laughed.

"Hey, are you laughing at me?"

"Of course not" he said as he tripped himself.

"Looks like I'm not the only one who's drunk!" She said quite loudly, even though she was attempting to whisper in his ear.

He walked her out of the fraternity house and down the sidewalk. "Wait, where am I walking you to?"

"Oh, um, there," she said as she pointed to the dorm across the street. They both run across the street, trying not to trip and avoiding the cars that are driving down the street. They safely make it across and are both laughing hysterically, finding amusement in their drunkenness. Meredith walks up the steps to the dorm building and grabs her keys, but is fumbling with the lock.

"Here, let me help you with that," he said as he took her keys from her and let her into her building.

"Thanks, um…what's your name again?"

"Oh, I'm Derek."

"Hi Derek, I'm Meredith," she said as she tripped over the rug in the entrance of the building, still laughing hysterically.

"What floor are you on?" He asked her.

"The third."

"Is there an elevator in the building?"

"Uh, no. Why?"

"Are you sure you can make it up stairs by yourself?" He asked her.

"Oh. Crap. Probably not." She laughed. He extended his hand and she took it as they walked over and started up the stairs.


	6. Chapter 6

They tripped a few times, laughing the entire time, up the three flights of stairs. When she got to her room she saw a note in dry erase pen on her door: "Meredith, Christina is still pretty sick and I wanted to make sure she's okay so she's sleeping on my floor tonight –George" Meredith looked over at Derek and handed him her keys as she grabbed the wall for balance. "I don't think I'll be able to open this lock either" she said in a whispered laugh.

"No problem," he said as he chuckled. He fumbled for a few seconds before he could get the door open, as the alcohol was really starting to take a toll on him as well. "Ah, and there you go my lady."

"Thank you…uh…Derek." She said as she walked in and smiled at him.

"You're welcome, Meredith," he said, giving her his irresistible look.

She leaned in and gave him a kiss that lasted much longer than she expected. "Umm…do you want to come in for awhile? My roommate is sleeping across the hall tonight."

Derek looked in her eyes as she bit her bottom lip and looked up at him, wanting him to stay. "Sure, I'd love to," he said as he started to close the door behind him.

"Oh wait a second," Meredith said as she grabbed the door before he could shut it. She grabbed the pen off the dry erase board on the door, erased what George had written and wrote in big block letters: "Christina: DND". She walked back in the room and locked the door, and turned around to face a very confused Derek.

"What was that about?" He asked.

"Just a precaution. Don't worry about it," she said as she walked over to him and kissed him again. Derek wrapped his hands around her tiny waist and slipped his tongue gently into her mouth as she pushed him toward her bed. "Thank God we didn't bunk the beds" she thought to herself as she fell on top of him on her bed and continued to eagerly kiss him.

She laid on him as she continued to kiss him and started to unbutton his shirt. He rolled her over so he was on top and threw his shirt off the side of the bed and slid his hand up her tank top as he started to kiss her neck. She let out a quiet moan as he nibbled on her neck and ear. She rolled him back over, lifted her shirt over her head, and began to kiss down his chest. As she started fumbling with his belt she could feel him underneath her. She unbuckled his belt, and unzipped his jeans and pulled down his boxers along with his pants. She made her way back up to his mouth, excitedly kissing him. He grabbed her waist and pulled her to him as he once again rolled her over. This time he was the one kissing down her chest and down her stomach. He slid his hand up under her short skirt and removed her panties. He slipped on the condom he had pulled from his wallet earlier, put it on, and entered her. She gripped his shoulders as he began to rock slowly, and with each of her moans he rocked a bit faster, making it all that much more intense. She kissed his neck and he released just as he felt her tremble beneath him and let out a sigh. "Oh God," she said, out of breath as he fell down beside her, "That was amazing."

"It was, wasn't it," Derek said as he kissed her neck one more time. They were both exhausted and she laid her head down on his chest as he wrapped an arm around her and rested his hand on the small of her back and drifted to sleep.

**A/N: Yeah, I'm not big on writing sex scenes, so sorry if that sucked! lol. **


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Thanks so much for all the reviews! I'm glad you guys like this. And thanks to those who said they read it over at fanficga when I posted it, but who are reading it again anyway. You all rock! **

The next morning Christina rolled over on the floor of George's room and grabbed her head. "Oh my God," she thought, "what the hell happened?"

George looked over at her from his desk where he was eating a bowl of cereal. "Hey, you're up. Here, take these," he said as he handed her a bottle of water out of his mini-fridge and a couple aspirin.

"Thanks George. Ugh, what happened last night?"

"Uh, well not too much. We went to the frat party across the street, you got trashed, puked in a trashcan on the way out of the house, and then again on your way into the dorm."

"Oh. Why am I here?"

"You kinda passed out before you even made it to your room once you were in the building, and I didn't want you to die of alcohol poisoning or something, so I figured you'd be better off with someone watching out for you so you slept on my floor with that (pointing to a trashcan) next to your head."

"Oh, well thanks. But wait, where's Meredith?"

"She stayed at the party and I left her a note on her door saying you were here and not to worry. She's probably nursing her own hangover right about now, even though she was still only tipsy when we left."

"Ah, okay. Well thanks again, George, but I think I'm gonna head back across the hall so I can go shower and stuff," Christina said as she started to stand up and grabbed her throbbing head. "Oh man, I'm never drinking again."

"That's what everyone says until a new party comes along," George said as he stood behind her to make sure she didn't fall. He opened the door and walked her down the hall as she used the walls as support so she didn't fall over.

Christina and George looked at her door and saw the "Christina: DND" in giant letters on the door. "What's with that?" George asked.

Christina looked at it confused and tried to think of what was with the DND. "I wish I knew?" She said, questioning why Meredith would write something so random on the door. She grabbed her keys and quietly opened the door, not wanting to wake Meredith in case she had a hangover anywhere nearly as bad as Christina's. She peaked in the room and immediately shut the door, still standing on the outside of the door.

George turned around from walking back to his room. "Christina?"

"Umm… yeah, uh…want to go get breakfast? Like now?" Christina asked, looking a little flustered as she remembered DND was her code with Meredith for "Do not disturb."

"Uh, I already ate a bowl of cereal, but I could eat more I suppose. Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah…Meredith is just sleeping really soundly and I don't want to wake her up just yet. I'm _sure_ she'll have a hangover and I don't think I want to be in there when she first wakes up." George just kind of stared at Christina, but agreed and they walked off to the dining hall.

**GAGAGAGAGAGAGAGA **

Meredith rolled over in her bed and rubbed her head and immediately knew she had a bit too much tequila last night. She stared blankly at the wall before deciding she felt well enough to sit up. She did a double take when she did she looked over at the floor, where there was a naked guy laying face down on the floor. She realized that she herself only had her jean skirt on, and easily put two and two together. "Not really what I had planned for my first night of college," she thought to herself. She looked at the guy expecting to realize that the guy she clearly slept with last night wouldn't be as good looking as she remembered…after all she had been drunk and probably had a good set of "beer goggles" on. She grabbed her bra that was hanging off the bedpost and threw a pillow on top of the guy.

At that moment Derek stirred and looked up at her as she finished putting on her bathrobe. "Ah, well good morning," he said as she looked over to him for the first time since he woke up and realized that he was just as attractive as she remembered him being.

She lost herself in thought for a second but then remembered the point. "Um so this is humiliating on so many levels. But um…"

"Nice dorm room," Derek said as she stumbled over her words and he zipped up his pants.

"Thanks. Um, I have to take a shower, and when I get back you won't be here, so uh, goodbye…" she thought for a second, "…Der-Derek?" she said, almost questioning if she got his name right.

"Goodbye, Meredith," he said extending his hand. She shook it, grabbed her shower caddy, and left Derek standing in the room laughing.


	8. Chapter 8

Meredith came back from the shower, erased the "DND" from her door, and sure enough the guy was gone. "Oh thank God," she thought, even though she was a little disappointed not to see his face again. A few minutes after she returned from her shower Christina came back.

"Well good morning to you!" Christina said sarcastically as she saw Meredith taking an aspirin.

"Ha, yeah."

"So um…I'm just going to get straight to the point. Who's the guy?"

"Guy? What guy?"

"Um, the DND on the door…" Christina said, not wanting to let on that she accidentally walked in and saw the guy's bare ass on the floor.

"Oh, um, remember the guy I was talking to last night at the bar at the party?"

"Uh…" Christina tried to remember what happened last night and the guy Meredith was talking about, "I don't really remember much of anything that happened last night, so no…"

"Oh, well I ran into him again when we were taking you back so I stayed and talked to him again, and he walked me back to make sure I got home okay."

"Well that was nice of him. Then what?"

"Um, well yeah, we uh, made out for a bit and then passed out," Meredith said, clearly lying and not wanting to tell her roommate she had a one night stand on the first night she was at school.

Christina knew she wasn't telling her the truth, but she let it go.

**GAGAGAGAGAGA**

The next morning was the first day of classes. Meredith and Christina got ready to go and met George for breakfast at the dining hall. "So what's your schedule like?" George asked the two girls.

"Christina and I have an organic chemistry lecture for two hours this morning, and then I have calculus this afternoon," Meredith said.

"Organic chemistry…so you're pre-med?" George asked.

"Eh…sorta I guess," Meredith mumbled as she pushed her omelet around her plate.

"I have organic chem tomorrow…not looking forward to that," George said.

The first day went by and they seemed to feel comfortable in all their classes. George had heard that one of the bars just off the edge of campus was the place to be on Monday nights, so he had convinced Christina and Meredith to go out that night. "We're not 21 though, and I don't have a fake," Meredith said, not wanting to end up in any more awkward one night stand situations.

"They let you in on Mondays if you're 18, at least that's what I'm told. It's worth a shot," George said. The girls finished getting ready and they got on the campus shuttle and went to Joe's Emerald Street Bar.


	9. Chapter 9

Joe's bar had a very neighborhood feel, like everyone that was in there were regulars. The three walked in and looked around, recognizing a few people from the dorm, and walked over to the dart board and started playing. A few guys had approached Meredith and Christina from time to time and offered to buy them drinks, which they graciously accepted. "I thought you weren't drinking ever again," George said to Christina as she drank her beer.

"Bite me, Georgie." Meredith and George laughed as Christina chugged the rest of her drink.

"Fine, but I'm not cleaning up your puke again, and you're not sleeping on my floor," George warned her.

"As long as Meredith doesn't hook up with anymore guys and sexile me again, that won't be a problem."

"Christina!" Meredith yelled at her roommate.

"What? It's not a big deal, you said you guys just made out and passed out, right?" Christina said laughing as she looked at Meredith who seemed to be staring into space.

"Oh shit," Meredith said as she quickly turned her back to the door.

"What?" George asked her, concerned.

Christina turned around and vaguely recognized the guy coming in the bar, accompanied by a tall girl with long, dark red hair and another guy. "Oh….now I remember…the guy you were talking to at the bar at the party!"

Meredith mumbled under her breath. "Shit, please don't see me."

"Damn, he's not bad to look at, and neither is his friend. But what's with the girl?" Christina asked, eying the two guys as they went over to the bar and ordered drinks.

"I don't know, and I don't care," Meredith said.

"Hey George, why don't you go talk to the girl they're with while we go talk to the guys," Christina said as a smirk came across her face.

"What? Christina no! I'm not going to go talk to him."

"What's going on? Did I miss something?" George asked, really confused. "Besides, that girl is like a foot taller than me…not really my type."

"Whatever, let's just go play some pool," Meredith suggested and they went over to the side room and played.

Later on Meredith noticed as Derek and his two friends came into the room and started playing video poker a few feet next to the pool table they were at. She tried to ignore him but it was impossible—he was absolutely gorgeous. Christina noticed Meredith was staring at him and cleared her throat. "Uh, Mer? It's your turn."

"Oh, right. Sorry." She hit the cue ball while still looking at the guy in the corner and missed her shot completely.

"Mer, seriously, what are you doing? You totally had that shot."

"Oh, sorry. I guess I zoned out for a second. I'm good now," she said and she handed her cue stick to George so he could take his turn.

Meredith continued to glance over at the guy playing poker, and noticed the girl he was with putting her arm around him and lightly rubbing his back. Derek didn't seem to be receptive of this, and kind of scooted over, avoiding her touch. He felt someone looking at him so he turned his head to look over his shoulder, and Meredith immediately turned her head back to the game of pool. Derek smiled as he recognized the girl he had slept with two nights ago, looked at the girl standing next to him, sighed, and went back to his game.

When Derek finished the game, he got up and his friend took a turn playing, and the red haired girl Derek seemed to be with put her arm around his friend just as she had done with Derek, except this guy didn't scoot away from her. Derek seemed oblivious and watched as Meredith continued to play pool with her friends, leaning over the pool table to take her shot. She sunk the ball she was aiming for but ended up scratching on her next shot, and Derek sent her a slight smile. She saw this and tried to avoid making eye contact but she couldn't look away.

"Would you just go talk to him already? You know you want to," Christina whispered to her friend.

"No. No, I don't," she said, trying to convince herself more than trying to convince Christina. Christina rolled her eyes and took her turn as Meredith looked back at Derek who was coldly looking over at his friends playing video poker, and then looked back at Meredith, looking her straight in the eyes as his face softened. She shyly smiled at him, unaware she was doing so. She felt herself blush and turned to George and Christina. "I'm going run to the bathroom really quick, I'll be back."

Meredith left the back room of the bar and walked over to the hallway that lead to the bathrooms. Derek watched as she left the room and he went and ordered himself another drink, and headed back toward the pool room. He saw her walking back down the hall and went over to her. "Hey again."

She had once again tried to avoid his eyes, but couldn't help herself. Her mouth felt dry and she couldn't think straight. "Hi," she finally managed to squeak out. He looked at her intensely, but not in a creepy way. She looked into his blue eyes and she couldn't help but smile. "Stop looking at me like that."

"Like what?"

"Like you've seen me naked," she said, as she laughed a little to herself at how stupid she must sound. He smiled and gave her his dreamy look.

"Meredith…" he started to say when she pushed him up against the wall of the hall and kissed him. "Well, I can't argue with that," he said as he smiled.

"Sorry," she said, slightly embarrassed.

"You're sorry? For what? For sleeping with me Saturday night, kicking me out Sunday morning, or kissing me just now? Because all are fond memories I'd like to hold on to."

Meredith laughed and looked at the ground. "I don't know."

"You don't know? Well maybe this will help you," he said as he kissed her again, softly and sweetly. Meredith let out a sigh and leaned into him. "Still sorry?"

Meredith cleared her throat and tried to regain composure. "Umm..."

Just then Christina and George came out from the back room. "Meredith, let's go," Christina said, smirking when she saw Meredith talking to Derek.

"Well, that's my cue to leave. See ya around," she told him, looking into his eyes for the last time that night.

"See ya," he said, smiling, as he walked back to his friends in the room.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: You'll notice that in previous chapters, then again in this one, and in some others I borrow lines from the show…that's all Shonda's creative goddessness, and I'm just incorporating it for effect :)**

The next morning Meredith and Christina had to wake up early for their organic chemistry synthesis lab. "This whole waking up at 7am for an 8am class after a night of drinking and going to bars isn't going to fly," Meredith moaned as she rolled her tired body out of bed.

"No kidding," Christina said as she took an aspirin and Meredith threw on a grey long-sleeved Dartmouth t-shirt and a pair of jeans.

The pair walked out their dorm and over to the science building to go to their lab. "I really don't see why knowing how to draw diagrams of carbon compounds will help us when it comes to performing surgeries," Meredith complained as she slung her khaki canvas tote bag on their lab table.

"Carbon is the basis for all life in the universe. Of course it's important!" Christina said, excited that with each class and each lab, she was one step closer to medical school and becoming a surgeon.

Meredith rolled her eyes at Christina as the professor from yesterday's organic chemistry lecture came threw the door. "Good morning everyone. As you know I'm Dr. Miller, your professor for Chemistry 210. Usually I don't attend lab sections, but since it is the first lab of the semester I'm here to get you guys started. At this point in time I'd like to introduce you to your lab leaders, who are chemistry graduate students, and my TA's who are medical students who are here as part of our medical school's undergrad mentor program."

Meredith wasn't paying much attention and yawned as Dr. Miller gave his opening remarks. Christina sat up and suddenly seemed wide awake as class started.

"Alright, this third of the room he motioned toward the side of the room farthest from Meredith and Christina will have Tatianna and Jacob as lab leaders, and Addison Montgomery as your TA. And this third of the room he motioned toward the middle half of the room, just to the right of Meredith and Christina will have Anya and Mike as your lab leaders, and Preston Burke as your TA, and you guys he motioned to Meredith and Christina's third of the room will have Matthew and Laura as lab leaders and Derek Shepherd as your TA. I will now turn it over to the TA's and lab leaders and you guys can get started on your first lab assignment."

Dr. Miller walked out of the room as Meredith fought back another yawn, still not paying attention as Derek came over to their group to give instructions. Christina kicked Meredith under the table. "What is your problem?" Meredith snapped at Christina as she looked up and saw Derek at the front of the room dressed in a lab coat over his red button down shirt. "Oh, shit." Meredith buried her head in her hands.

Derek started calling out attendance as she ducked down behind her tote bag on the table, trying to make herself invisible. "Oh give it up," Christina said.

"What?" Meredith harshly whispered.

"I know you slept with him. I'm not that naïve. Seriously."

"What? How'd you…?"

"I forgot about our DND code and walked in while you were still passed out on your bed and he was passed out on the floor."

"And you didn't say anything to me?" She said still yelling at Christina in a whispered tone.

"What? You were passed out, I probably couldn't have waken you up anyway."

"No, I mean since then. At the bar…you could have told me at anytime that you knew."

"Oh whatever, it's not a big deal," Christina said, still looking straight ahead at Derek thinking how lucky Meredith was that she got to hook up with him. "Was he any good?"

"WHAT?" She said in a hushed yell.

"He looks like he'd be good."

"Meredith Grey?" Derek announced on the attendance sheet.

"Here," she managed to say. He looked around and then he saw her and did a double take as she cringed. He smiled for a brief moment and then continued to call names. "Well organic chemistry just got a lot more interesting" she whispered to Christina.

"I'm sorry Ms. Grey, is there something you'd like to share with the rest of the class?"

"Uh, no sir, definitely not," she said, blushing as he laughed to himself.

"Sir? You called him sir?" Christina joked.

"Bite me."

"Christina Yang?"

"Here!" Christina shouted as she shot her hand up in the air. Derek recognized her from the bar as the girl Meredith was playing pool with. He knew this would be an intriguing class.

"Okay, everyone. As Dr. Miller said, I'm Derek Shepherd, a third year medical student at Dartmouth's med school and I'll be acting as a TA for the lab section of your organic chem class. Matthew and Laura here will introduce themselves and explain a bit more about what will happen."

Derek stepped aside as Matthew and Laura introduced themselves as first year chemistry graduate students and explained that they will directly be helping the students with the experiments, while the TA will oversee everything and act as a liaison with the professor. Derek watched as Meredith tried to avoid looking at him while the lab leaders talked. Derek started to hand out lab manuals and stopped at Meredith and Christina's table, which was at the back of the room, and leaned over, inches away from Meredith's face. "So we meet again," he whispered to her and it sent chills down her back. She politely smiled and turned her lab manual to the first page and followed the instructions that the lab leaders gave.

Meredith and Christina walked out of the classroom after they had been dismissed and ran to catch up to George who had also just been dismissed from class. Derek walked out of the chemistry laboratory, ran over to Meredith, and grabbed her arm. "Meredith can I speak with you for a second?" Meredith stopped momentarily and Christina looked over her shoulder at Meredith, laughed, and continued walking.

"Derek I was just—"

He didn't let her finish her sentence and pulled her into a stairwell. "We should talk, Meredith."

"There's nothing to talk about."

"Really?" He asked doubtfully, taking a step closer to her. "We really should go someplace and talk Meredith…"

"We should pretend it never happened. This can't exist, you get that, right?" She said, looking him square in the eyes, trying to stand her ground and not give into his piercing blue eyes. She couldn't take it anymore and walked out of the stairwell, leaving Derek looking after her and shaking his head.

**GAGAGAGAGAGGAGA**

Back at the dorm Christina started to grill Meredith. "So what was that about?"

"What was what?" Meredith asked, trying to avoid the inevitable conversation by looking like she's deep in concentration while doing her calculus homework.

"Seriously? Meredith, the smoldering hot TA, who you've slept with, by the way, grabs you by the arm after class and pulls you into a stairwell, and you're going to sit there and ask me 'what was what'? Seriously?"

"Fine. He wanted to talk, and I told him there's nothing to talk about and to leave it alone. Then I left."

"That's it?"

"That's it. And besides, our organic chem lab is only once a week, so I only have to see him on Tuesdays. I can avoid seeing him outside of class."

"Really? 'Cause seriously, you've been so successful with that the last few days, considering you've only gone out twice since you've been here, and both times you saw him. Uh-huh, good luck with that." Christina gave her a doubtful look, and went back to studying.


	11. Chapter 11

**This is my only update until later tonight. My college is trying to break a world record later today for the number of people doing the "Thriller" dance, so I'm going to that, and then I have actual dance class and a sorority thing, so I won't be back until much later. Enjoy! And thanks again for all the reviews. You guys rock my world!**

The next week went by rather quickly. Meredith was starting to adjust to college life and her new class schedule, and she managed to get through another organic chem lab without having to talk to Derek, even though he gave her looks during class that made her fidget. She went to a party the following weekend with Christina, George, and some girl George had met, and managed to avoid seeing Derek outside of class.

It was Thursday afternoon and Christina and Meredith were in their dorm. "Hey, where are you off to?" Christina asked as Meredith threw on her Dartmouth long sleeve shirt over her tank top and grabbed a book and her folder.

"I'm going to the library. I have an American lit paper due on Monday and I have every intention of going out tomorrow night and Saturday, so I figured I should at least start trying to find sources before Sunday night rolls around. Procrastination never worked all that well for me."

"Don't forget, the ER season premiere is on tonight at 10!" Christina called out as Meredith smiled and closed the dorm room door.

Meredith took the elevator up to the top floor of the library and went over to the stacks to start looking for books and articles that would help her write her paper. She spent a few hours there, finally able to forget about chemistry and Derek (and the chemistry between her and Derek), and was actually able to get a decent amount of work done on her paper on Ernest Hemingway and _The Sun Also Rises_.

Meredith got restless and promised she'd be back to watch ER with Christina, so she went to the Xerox machine and made copies of several literary critic's articles and a few pages out of a book about Hemingway. She threw the copies she made into her folder, put the book and original articles on the librarian's desk, grabbed her copy of _The Sun Also Rises_ off the table she was working at, and walked over to the elevator.

"_The Sun Also Rises_, eh? That's a good one—one of my favorites," she heard a voice behind her say.

"Yes." She said in a monotone voice, even though she was thinking "shit," hoping he wouldn't realize it was her.

"Meredith," he said as moved so he was standing next to her. She tried to ignore him. "Meredith," he said again, stepping a bit closer to her so their shoulders were almost touching.

"Stop it."

"Stop what?"

"You're stalking me."

"No, I'm not. I'm in a library—Dartmouth's library. You know, the one that's here for all students to use to study, research, learn about things, and occasionally hookup with other students behind the stacks of books when no one's looking." He smiled as she tried not to. The elevator opened and they both got on, and she stepped behind him so she was leaning against the back wall. She looked quickly at his ass and smiled but then reminded herself to focus. He hadn't noticed but he looked over his shoulder at her anyway.

"You're sexually harassing me."

"I'm riding an elevator."

"You're my teacher, and my teachers' teacher, and you're my teacher," she said frantically.

"Technically, I'm your professor's assistant, not your teacher," he said, still facing the doors. "I'm a medical student, hardly a teacher."

"You're in charge of the lab leaders, who are for the sake of argument my teachers, so you are by proxy my teacher."

"You're cute when you freak out," he said.

"I'm not going out with you, and I'm definitely not sleeping with you again."

"Did I ask you to go out with me?"

"Look, I'm drawing a line. There's a big line."

He thought for a moment, and then grinned. "So this line…" he turned around to face her and she looked up at him from behind her folders and books. "Is it imaginary or do I need to get you a marker?"

She looked up at him again, searching his eyes and she knew she couldn't take it anymore. She ran over to him, pushed him against the elevator wall as she dropped everything in her hands and kissed him, pressing her body against him. She ran her fingers through his hair as he moved his hands down her back.

After a few seconds the elevator dinged and the doors opened to the ground floor, so she quickly bent down picking up her folder, papers, and books. They both quickly exited the elevator, walked out of the library, and headed off in opposite directions. "We'll talk later then?" He called out after her as she walked back to her dorm smiling.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: THis will be my only updated until much later tonight. I have class from 9am-4:30, and then I have acting class at 7 for three hours, which means I miss greys :( But I'll download it and all will be well.**

"What are you so giddy about?" Christina asked as Meredith threw down her things on her desk.

"Nothing," she said as she went over and sat down next to Christina on her bed and grabbed a handful of popcorn as ER's opening credits started. "So what's so great about this show?"

"I seriously can't believe you haven't watched it before…there's blood, and surgeries, and more blood…it's amazing!"

"It better be. Who knows what I'm missing by staying in and watching this with you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Christina asked, noticing Meredith trying to cover her smile.

"Nothing…seriously." A few commercial breaks later she cracked. "I kissed Derek."

"You kissed Derek?"

"In the elevator in the library."

"You kissed Derek in the elevator."

"What, you aren't going to say anything, or judge me?"

"Do you want me to say something and judge you?"

"Yes. It's not like you not to say something and judge me."

"Fine…he's your teacher Meredith…it's like dating your boss. You just don't do it. It's creepy and weird."

"I'm not dating him. And I was tired and stressed from working on my paper. He was there and looking at me and I caved. I have no willpower."

"Well clearly…"

"Hey!" Meredith looked slightly offended.

"What? You said you wanted me to say something and judge you, so I did. Don't get mad at me for that." Meredith rolled her eyes. "We all handle stress differently, and you choose to make out with McDreamy in the elevator. It's your thing, whatever." Meredith smiled and grabbed another handful of popcorn as the two continued to watch ER.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: So last night...crazyness! Here's two quick updates :) And for those of you who are reading my other fic (sometimes life is just too much), I'll try to update it soon, but I don't have everything written out the way I want it yet.  
**

Friday and Saturday night went by and she avoided seeing Derek. She realized that she stood a better chance of avoiding Derek if she stuck to parties that were primarily undergrad students, so she refused to go to bars or any place off campus where she might see him. Tuesdays in class were a different story.

When Meredith and Christina arrived at their chemistry lab that day, Meredith quickly noticed that their lab leader, Matthew, was absent. "Great…" Meredith mumbled under her breath.

"What?" Christina asked.

"Matthew isn't here, but look who is," she said as she nodded toward Derek who was setting up some lab equipment.

"Haha, today will be especially interesting," Christina smiled as she took her seat.

"Alright students," Derek started. "Today we're going to try to identify two unknown organic substances, a ketone and an alcohol, through chromatography and then FT-IR analysis." Derek continued to explain the experiment as Christina scribbled down instructions and Meredith tried to avoid eye contact.

The girls started working on their experiment when Derek came over to supervise. "Good job Christina, but be careful when you try to separate the substances. Very nice Meredith, you seem like a natural" he said as he brushed against her with his shoulder as he walked by. She couldn't tell if it was intentional or not.

"Very nice Meredith," Christina mocked. "He's totally favoring you." Christina's sarcastic comment prompted Meredith to elbow Christina in the ribs. "What, you can't deny that."

"Hey, maybe I'm really a natural."

"At this? Seriously? He so wants to get in your pants."

**GAGAGAGAGAGAGGAGAGAGGAGAGAGA **

After class Christina and Meredith went to the student union to eat lunch. Christina went straight for the pizza line, while Meredith opted for the salad bar. "Well it looks like someone likes to eat healthy," Derek said as he came over next to her, adding cheese to his own salad.

"Seriously? Are you following me?"

"No, not at all. We just happen to end up at the same places at the same time. Maybe it's a coincidence, but I'm inclined to believe otherwise."

"What?"

"I, for one, am a believer in fate. I take everything on faith—faith that I will see you again, outside of the chem lab of course, even though I'm sure you are trying to avoid me at all costs."

"I'm not avoiding you," Meredith tried to sound convincing.

"You're a bad liar. Look, you clearly suck at avoiding me, so why not just give up already." He leaned over in front of her to get some salad dressing, brushing her arm on the way back—this time she knew it was intentional. She just stared at him. "You know, we could go out to dinner someplace, I pay for food, big chunks of carbs in a basket…"

"Seriously? You're seriously asking me out…again?"

"Yes."

"We had sex, once," she said.

"And we kissed in an elevator."

"And we kissed in an elevator, once."

"No seriously, go out with me."

She looked at him for a second. "It's the chase."

Derek looked at her quizzically. "Come again?"

"It's the thrill of the chase, isn't it? I've been asking myself…why are you so hell bent on getting me to go out with you? You know you're my TA, you know it's against the rules, or at least frowned upon, you know I keep saying no…it's the thrill of the chase."

"Well it's fun, isn't it?"

"See? It's all a game to you. You're in medical school—people respect you. I still have to get through undergrad, and dating the guy who grades my organic chem tests is not going help win me any respect." Meredith turned to walk away from him.

"Meredith, just consider it."

"No." She walked away and met up with Christina at a table.

"What the hell took you so long?" Christina asked when Meredith finally sat down at the table.

"I ran into Derek at the salad bar. I seriously can't escape him."

"And?"

"And he asked me out, yet again. He's all about the chase."

"Meredith, who are you kidding, you know you'll eventually give in, so you may as well get it over with now. Although I still say it's a bad, bad, bad idea to get involved with him since he's our TA, but you're Meredith, and you get drunk and horny."

"Christina!"

"What, are you denying it?" Meredith just looked down at her salad. "Yeah, I didn't think so."


	14. Chapter 14

The next day Derek waited for Meredith outside her organic chemistry lecture room. "Okay, now I'm convinced you really are stalking me," she said as she walked past him.

"Meredith," he said as he grabbed the back of her shirt and led her into an empty lecture hall.

"What? Seriously, don't you have a life? I thought you were in med school…shouldn't you have your own classes?"

He smiled. "I'm a third year med-student, which means I'm done with classes and starting clinicals next month. Right now all I have to do is be a TA for your organic chem lab, and when next month comes along I just add the clinical rotation at the hospital to it."

"Fine. What do you want?" She asked as she tried to look stern but softened when he looked her in the eyes.

"It's not the chase."

"What?"

"With us. It's not the thrill of the chase, and it's not a game." She just looked at him, waiting for him to continue. "It's you, and your hair that smells like…lavender…, and the way you scrunch your nose when you're angry or avoiding me."

She let up her guard for a second as he leaned in toward her, but then stiffened. "I'm still not going out with you."

He leaned in closer. "You say that now," he said softly, into her ear, and with that he turned around and walked out of the room, this time leaving her to stare after him and shake her head.

She walked out of the room and out the door subtly smiling to herself when she saw Derek leaning against the brick building. "What are you doing here? Waiting for me?" she asked as she continued walking

"I thought I was stalking you," he said as he caught up to her.

"You're the one who left me in the lecture hall." She looked over to him expecting him to say something.

"I'm well aware of that. It's all part of the plan…they always come crawling back."

"So it is a game to you." Meredith deliberately picked up her pace.

"Meredith, I'm kidding," Derek said as he grabbed her arm forcing her to stop walking and pulling her to face him. "Look, I know you're not too thrilled at the idea of dating your TA, and it's not like me to try to date a student—"

Meredith cut him off mid sentence. "Then why are you? Trying to date a student, I mean, when you know it can't lead to anything good."

Derek was still holding onto her arm and pushed her against the side of the building they were standing by and passionately kissed her. "Are you saying that wasn't 'anything good?'" He smiled.

Meredith just stared at him, totally caught off guard.

"Now, can I finish what I was saying before you interrupted me?"

Meredith nodded.

"Okay, good. As I was saying, yes this is an unusual situation, but I honestly see the potential for something great here. I wouldn't want to risk the inevitable gossip that will be spread about us if I was just in it for the chase, or if I thought it was a game in any way." Derek looked Meredith directly in the eyes, took a step closer to her, and lowered his voice. "Meredith, we can't seem to keep away from each other regardless of how hard we try…I know you think I'm stalking you, but I'm really not. After that night at the frat party when we slept together, I couldn't get my mind off of you, but I knew you had to be an underclassmen because you lived in that dorm, so I tried to forget about you. Then you showed up at the bar and we ended up in the same room again. Then you're in my organic chem lab, then the library, then the salad bar. I've tried to avoid you, just as you have tried to avoid me, but it doesn't work Meredith. Do you realize that I have not once run into one of my other 50 students outside of class, with the exception of Christina when she's with you. So please, just consider it. If we go out and it doesn't work it's fine, but as I said before I'm a big believer in fate and I know if we don't at least try this I'll wonder 'what if' for the rest of my life."

Meredith could feel her eyes starting to water—he seemed so sincere. She looked away from him as a tear rolled down her face. He quickly wiped it away with his thumb and stroked her cheek and jaw line. She looked back into his eyes and could tell his were starting to water as well as he looked to her for some sort of answer. She softly leaned into him and gently kissed him, quickly and sweetly, and leaned her head back against the wall of the building and sighed.

"What was that for?" Derek asked her quietly, giving her his dreamy look.

"I honestly don't know. I can't think right now, I can't breathe, I can't…" she started to silently cry again and he wiped away her tears.

"Meredith, just give it a chance…give us a chance." His eyes begged her to say yes.

"I…I need to think, and I have calculus in an hour…Give me your number and I'll call you later, okay?"

"Okay, here." He took out a pen and wrote his number on the top of the notebook she was holding.

"I'll talk to you later, after I have time to think," she said as she leaned in to kiss him, but stopped short and walked away. Derek looked after her, defeated, but hopeful that she would give it a chance.

Meredith couldn't concentrate during her math class, but luckily she had taken calculus in high school and it came easily to her. She kept looking at Derek's number that he scribbled on the top of her calculus notebook. She toyed with the idea of going out with him—after all, they had amazing chemistry, and everything he said to her made sense. But she couldn't get over the fact that he was her TA, and if and when people found out they would think she was getting special treatment. She was Ellis Grey's daughter, so she knew if she went to medical school that people would assume she got a free-ride off her mother's success, and she didn't want to add sleeping with her TA to the list.


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Sorry this took so long. Enjoy! Thanks for the reviews...you are all amazing. **

After her class she walked back to the dorm and was relieved to find Christina wasn't there. She changed into sweat pants, laid down on her bed, and stared at the ceiling trying to figure out what she should do when a knock on the door broke her concentration. "Come in."

"Hey Mer," she looked over at the door and George was standing there with the strawberry blonde-haired girl he had gone out with a weekend-or-so ago. He looked at Meredith and thought she looked like she had been crying. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just thinking. What's up?"

"Olivia and I are going into town for dinner…do you wanna come with us? Christina said she'd come meet us after her history class and we might all go to a movie or something."

"No thanks…you guys go and have fun. I have quite a bit of work to do and I have to figure out what I'm doing."

"Doing…?" George sounded confused.

"Don't worry about it. I'll talk to you guys later."

"Alright." George closed her door and walked down the hall hand-in-hand with Olivia.

Meredith continued to stare at the ceiling, unable to forget about her conversation with Derek earlier. "It would be crazy for me to date him, right? Regardless of how good we may be together, I can't date a guy who is in charge of my chem lab, even if he is a medical student and not a professor…or can I?" She said aloud while she clutched her cell phone.

Hours had passed by and Meredith woke up, realizing she had dozed off. She looked down at her phone and then back up at the ceiling. "Damn it. Why is this so hard?"

"Why is what so hard?" Meredith looked over and saw Christina sitting at her computer doing homework.

"Oh, I didn't realize you were here," Meredith said. "I was just thinking out loud."

"Why is what so hard?" Christina asked again.

"Nothing. How long have you been back?" Meredith sat up in her bed, looked at the clock, and realized it was after 8…she had missed dinner completely and been asleep for at least 3 hours.

"I dunno, maybe two hours?"

"Did you go to dinner or the movies with George and Olivia?"

"No. I ran into them downtown when I went to the drug store to get some stuff, but I figured they'd have more fun if it was just the two of them."

Meredith laughed, "Yeah you're probably right…I hate being the third wheel."

"Seriously." Christina got up and walked over to her closet and grabbed her towel and bathrobe. "Ugh, I need to shower. I'll be back later, but if you go anywhere don't lock me out 'cause I don't have my keys."

"No problem." As soon as Christina left the room Meredith plopped back down and stared at the ceiling, again, still clutching her phone. "Okay, so Derek said to go with what fate is telling us to do…he sees all the signs, but I'm not, so I need a sign. Something to tell me what to do…" She rolled over on her side and faced Christina's bed when she heard something fall. Meredith looked over to where she heard the noise come from and saw that her math notebook had fallen off her desk and landed next to her bed, with Derek's phone number face up. She laughed, "You've gotta be kidding me."

Meredith picked up the book and dialed the number on her phone, not knowing what she was going to say.

"Hello?" Derek's voice answered on the third ring.

"Hi Derek, it's Meredith."

"Hey," he said as he let out a little sigh. He had tried to stay busy all afternoon, not wanting to be the guy who waits for the hot girl to call.

"Hi," Meredith said again.

"Yeah, you said that already," he laughed a little.

"Oh, right." There was a little awkward silence, but then she spoke up. "So I spent all afternoon thinking, and I still don't know…but you were right, what you said made sense. We can't avoid each other no matter how hard we try, and there may be something there."

"Yeah," he said, relieved.

"Anyway, I guess I don't have a definite answer for you. I don't know why it's so hard."

"It doesn't have to be."

"I know…I seem to like making life complicated for myself."

"I noticed," he said as he heard her laugh a little. "So what do you want to do then?"

"I don't know."

"Alright, listen. I'm going to come over to your dorm, and we'll go downtown and grab some coffee or something so we can talk this out in person, and we'll figure something out by the end of tonight, okay?"

"Okay."

"Good. I'll be there in fifteen minutes."

"Okay, I'll meet you then." They both hung up and Meredith leaned her head against the wall next to her bed and sighed. She quickly realized she was still in her sweats, so she got up to change into something a little more attractive.

**A/N: Up next…their pseudo-date!**


	16. Chapter 16

Just after 9 o'clock Meredith was sitting in a chair in the lobby of her dorm when she saw Derek approaching the main entrance dressed in jeans, a burgundy polo shirt, and a black leather jacket. His hair was perfect as always, and she couldn't help but smile when she opened the door and walked outside onto the porch of her dorm. "Hi," she said as she approached him.

"Hey there," he said quietly in his truly McDreamy way. He looked at her in her medium light-wash jeans, and black v-neck long sleeve shirt layered over a long red tank top. "You look nice."

"It's just coffee, right?" She said, to remind him it wasn't a date.

"Can't you just accept a compliment? But yes, just coffee." He laughed.

"Thanks… for the compliment. You look nice too." He led her to where he parked his car and opened the passenger side door.

"Do you have a coffee shop preference?" He asked her as he put the key in the ignition.

"Not really…you've lived here longer than I have so wherever you think is good should be fine."

"Alrighty then." He backed out of the parking space and started to drive away from campus and to the downtown area. It took about 5 minutes once they were off campus to get to the coffee shop. "Ah, here we are. This is one of my favorite places since it's family owned and not a corporate chain."

Derek got out of the car and went over to Meredith's side to open the door for her but she had already gotten out. "It's not a date, remember?" Meredith said as she half-smiled at him and closed her door.

"Ah, yes, right." They went inside and she ordered a non-fat mocha latte and a banana-nut muffin, while he ordered a latte with a shot of amaretto and a blueberry scone—he talked her into letting him pay for her. They sat down at a table by the window. "So even though this isn't a date, I'm glad you agreed to come out with me. We really should talk."

"I agree."

"So what are you thinking right now?" He asked her as he broke off a piece of the scone.

She looked up at him and propped her chin on her fist. "I'm not sure."

"That seems to be a reoccurring theme with you today."

"I'm very indecisive, what can I say?" She laughed and took a sip of her coffee and a bite of her muffin. "Okay, I'll just tell you everything that has run through my mind today, and we can go from there, sound good?"

"Sure, go ahead."

"Okay," she took a deep breath. "Everything you said really made sense to me, and you're right—I'm comfortable around you, we have great chemistry, we can't avoid each other…but I can't help think what people will say, and with my mother being Dr. Ellis Grey, if and when I go to medical school everyone will assume she's why I'm there…I don't want to be the girl who uses other people to get to the top, which is what it will look like."

"Meredith, I think you're over thinking this. For one, I'm only your TA for this semester. I'm not sure if I'll get assigned to run a lab section again next semester, and if I do, just sign up for a different chem lab—there are few different times to choose from. Secondly, no one has to know about us, and if they do so what? It's not like I have a very large say in your grades or anything—chemistry is pretty objective, you either have the right answer or you don't—plus I don't get the tests beforehand so I can't help you prepare for tests or anything like that. And lastly, even if other people think you're getting help from me, you'll know you're not and that's all that really matters."

Meredith looked at him and absorbed what he was saying. "You're right, I shouldn't care what other people say. It's hard though because Christina knows we slept together and has jokingly said that you were giving me extra compliments during lab."

"Well from what I can tell from the few times I've actually talked to Christina, she seems rather sarcastic so I wouldn't take what she says to heart. And I'll make sure I don't give you any preferential treatment in class."

"Well, okay then."

"So is that a yes?"

Meredith smiled and took a sip of her coffee. "Yeah, I guess it is."

He smiled back at her. "Good."

He drove her back to her dorm and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before she got out of the car. "I'll see you Friday night then," she said as she got out.

"I'll be here at 7," he said and she closed the door and he drove off.


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Sorry sorry sorry! It's been forever (well, for me anyway) since I've updated, and I'm sorry! My life has been hectic...between midterms, internship apps, sorority rush (go zeta tau alpha!) i've been crazy busy. Here's the update :)**

Meredith walked back up the stairs to her dorm and saw Christina lying on her bed watching TV. "Where have you been? And why are you smiling?"

"I went out to coffee, and I'm not."

"With who?"

"Oh, just some people from one of my classes," she lied to her friend and felt bad for it, but she and Derek had agreed to keep their relationship as quiet as possible until he was no longer her TA and they knew it would work out between them.

"Oh okay. Oh so I was talking to George earlier and he and Olivia and some other people are going to some 80s themed dance party at one of the frats on Friday night, you in?"

"Uh, possibly…I'll have to see what else is going on." Meredith didn't know what excuse to give to Christina, so she avoided telling her that she had other plans.

Thursday came and went quickly, but Friday went by so slowly for Meredith—she couldn't believe she was so excited for her date with her McDreamy. "Seriously, Meredith," she thought to herself during her calculus class—her last class of the day—"pull yourself together."

She walked back to her dorm and took a shower to take up more time—it was only 3 o'clock and Derek wouldn't be there until 7. When she came back from the shower Christina was back from class and eating a bag of chips while staring at the television. "Hey, so are you coming with us tonight?"

"Uh, what?" Meredith unwrapped the towel that was around her hair, plugged in her hair dryer, and put on the diffuser attachment.

"The 80's party…please come Meredith, I don't want to go but George is making me."

"I can't Christina, I'm sorry." Meredith turned her hair dryer on and tried to think of a reason why she couldn't go that she could tell her roommate.

"What why?" Christina asked when Meredith turned her blow dryer off.

"I totally forgot about it, and I already promised someone from my American lit. class that I'd come help her study for our test on Monday," Meredith felt that could be somewhat believable and started scrunching her hair with hair gel.

"Seriously? You expect me to believe you're going to spend your Friday night studying? C'mon Mer, what's going on?"

"Nothing. This girl is leaving tomorrow to go visit her friend in Vermont and so she needed to get this out of the way today."

"And you're spending extra time making your hair wavy and perfect for studying?"

"No…she lives downtown and we'll probably end up going to a bar or something later on so I want to make sure I look halfway decent."

"Oh." Christina actually sounded like she believed Meredith, which was a relief. "Well, I'm going to dinner with George at the dining hall, so I'll see you later."

"Alright…have fun at the party and take pictures—I can't wait to see what 80's outfit you put together."

"Oh speaking of, can I borrow some of your clothes if I need to? I have no idea what to wear."

"Sure, just don't spill beer all over my stuff." Christina left the room and Meredith let out a sigh of relief and continued to get ready. Derek didn't tell her where they were going, just that she didn't need to get really dressed up, so she looked in her closet for something cute and casual to wear on her first official date with McDreamy.

**A/N: The date is next! It's good, I promise :)**


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: the moment you have all been waiting for! My knowledge of New Hamsphire/Dartmouth is very limited, so all of this info I got off the internet, and may not be completely accurate, but whatever. Enjoy!  
**

At 7 o'clock Meredith walked down to the lobby and sure enough Derek was standing outside the dorm waiting for her (since he couldn't get in the building without any keys) looking as gorgeous as ever in a navy blue button down shirt, khaki cargo pants and the hot black leather jacket he wore the other night. She walked out the main entrance and over to him, wanting to give him a quick kiss but opted not to since there were other people around.

"You look amazing," he said to her when she walked up to him. She had on dark jeans and a lace trimmed grey v-neck tank top with a black knit cardigan over it, and her hair was let down and loosely curled. "Ready to go?"

"Oh yeah," she said as she smiled at him.

"Good." He led her over to his car, opened the door for her, and then got in the driver's side himself.

"So where are we going?"

"I told you you'll have to wait and see," he smiled as he started the car and drove out of the dorm's parking lot.

"Fine, be that way." They talked for the duration of the car ride—their conversation flowed very naturally and they were very comfortable with each other, which gave Meredith a sense of relief and she started to think this wouldn't be a mistake after all.

"Ah, here we are," Derek said as he pulled up to a historic-looking building right along the Connecticut River that separates New Hampshire from Vermont. Derek got out of the car, opened her door, and took her hand as she stepped out of the car.

She looked at the building as they walked inside. It was a colonial style house that had been converted into a restaurant—very quaint and romantic. "This place is gorgeous…how did you find it?" She asked as she looked at the black and white photographs of colonial New England on the walls of the restaurant.

"I actually came here a few years ago. My family has a cabin in Vermont and when we had all of our relatives come stay with us for Christmas, we decided to come out here and eat dinner one night. It's one of my favorite restaurants."

"Oh, you're from Vermont?" She realized she knew very little about him other than he was a med student and good in bed.

"No. My parents and sisters all live in various parts of New York—I grew up on Long Island but moved to Manhattan when I went to college. My parents bought a house in Vermont because they're big on skiing and like to get away from the craziness of New York City around Christmas." The hostess led them to their table, which was in a back corner of the restaurant overlooking the river. The table and chairs were made of dark oak, and the table was covered in a crisp white tablecloth. There was a vase of wildflowers on the center of the table with colonial candlesticks on either side. "What about you? Where are you from originally?"

"Well I was born in Seattle, where my mom did her residency. My parents got divorced when I was really young, and my mom ended up taking a fellowship at Boston General, so we moved there when I was like 6 or so and I lived there ever since."

"Do you like Boston?"

"Yeah. I love New England in general, but I don't know—Seattle has always felt like my home. Some days I really miss it."

"I've never been out there…does it really rain as much as they say it does?"

She laughed. "It's not that it rains anymore than it does anywhere else—I think accumulation wise it's about the same as any other city. It's just that it lightly rains most of the week, but it's not like it's a torrential downpour every day."

"Ah gotcha. Well I for one like the rain—too much sun messes with my head."

"Exactly."

"Can I get you something to drink besides water?" The waitress asked when she came over.

Derek looked at Meredith. "I'll have an iced tea with lemon," she said.

"I'll have the same." The waitress left and they continued talking as they looked over the menus.

"So you said you had sisters, how many do you have?"

"Four—two are older than me and two are younger, and I have three nieces and two nephews." (A/N: I know he says he has more in the show, but he's only in college so he doesn't have that many yet :-P)

"Aww…I always wanted a big family."

"Really? Are you an only child?"

"Yeah. My mom didn't have a lot of time to raise me, much less more than one child."

"Well it's not as great as it seems…holidays can get pretty overwhelming, and being the only boy drowning in a sea of estrogen wasn't that much fun as a teenager," he laughed. "But I wouldn't trade them for anything."

Meredith gazed into his eyes, loving the way they lit up when he talked about his family. She understood why he loved this restaurant so much—it was family owned and the environment reflected that.

The waitress returned with their iced teas. "Are you ready to order?" Derek looked at Meredith and she nodded.

"I'll have the slow-roasted chicken, with a baked potato and house salad," she said.

"And for you, sir?"

"I'll take a porterhouse steak—medium, with the roasted potatoes and house salad."

"Alrighty, I'll be back soon," the waitress took their menus and walked away to go put their orders in.

The dinner went by very quickly, and they got to know each other really well. They talked about their families, and Meredith opened up to Derek about her parent's divorce (more than she thought she would have) and he seemed very understanding and supportive even though he couldn't really know how she felt since his parents were happily married. They talked about medical school, and she found out that Derek wanted to go into neurosurgery, which she found fascinating. The dinner itself was delicious, and they ended up splitting a piece of strawberry cheesecake.

"Thanks, and have a great night," the hostess said as they left the restaurant.

Derek and Meredith walked back to the car, and he had his arm wrapped loosely around her waist. When he went to open the door for her she gently pushed him against the side of the car and lightly kissed him. "And what was that for?" He asked as he smiled at her.

"For a fantastic dinner…and I couldn't wait till the end of the night to kiss you."

He leaned in and kissed her again. "Me either. So are you ready for part two of the date?"

"There's a part two?" Meredith sweetly asked looking up at him.

"Of course…it's only 9 o'clock…we still have plenty of time before we need to get you back. But for part two you actually need to get in the car." She laughed and obeyed him as she got in the car.


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: Part 2 of the date…it's long, so enjoy!**

"So where are we going for part two?"

"You ask too many questions…just relax and enjoy the ride."

Less than five minutes later they were pulling into another parking lot, but this time not a building in site. They got out of his Ford Escape Hybrid and he went over to the back, grabbed a rolled up blanket and sweatshirt, and then walked back over to Meredith and took her hand. "Come with me. And take this," he said handing her his Dartmouth hooded sweatshirt, "it gets chilly by the water." She smiled and pulled the sweatshirt over her head, loving the way that it smelled like Derek's cologne.

The pair started walking down a paved bike path that ran along the bank of the Connecticut River. "So will you tell me where we're going now?" She asked him.

"I don't know if I should just yet…you'll find out soon enough." She stopped walking and grabbed his other hand while she leaned in and kissed him softly. "Okay, fine." She laughed and they started walking again. "There's a clearing overlooking the river coming up along this path that is absolutely beautiful so I thought we'd lay out the blanket and could sit and talk some more."

"Aww…that's sounds wonderful." She smiled and appreciated how romantic and thoughtful he was.

They continued walking hand-in-hand down the path by the river when they approached a large grassy park-like area. "Ah, here we are." He unrolled the blanket and revealed a bottle of wine that he had wrapped up inside the blanket. He spread the blanket on the ground and motioned for her to sit down while he popped the cork on the wine bottle. "Sorry I don't have any glasses, 'cause they would be hard to hide in the blanket with the wine, so we'll have to drink it straight from the bottle like winos," he laughed as he sat down next to her.

"Haha, not a problem. It won't be my first time drinking alcohol straight out of the bottle." He handed her the bottle of white zinfandel and she took a drink. "How is this chilled? Wasn't it in your trunk?"

"Yeah, but I had a cooler so it would be chilling while we ate and then I wrapped it up before I took it out of the trunk."

"Wow, you thought of everything," she said as she took another sip and handed him the bottle. She looked down at the river and he was right—this was a gorgeous spot to sit back and relax. He laid back on the blanket and she laid down next to him, resting her head on his stomach and looked up at the sky. "Oh my God, the stars are gorgeous out here."

"That's the other reason I love it out here," he said as he ran his fingers loosely through her hair. "In New York, you can't see the stars very well at night because of the city lights, but out here there's nothing obstructing your view."

"So you're big on nature then? I wouldn't expect that from a Manhattan boy."

"I like the city, don't get me wrong, but there's something that being out in the open fields like this that gives me some sort of peace."

"I know what you're saying—I love Boston and the big city feel, but I love the simplicity of places like this. That's why I loved Seattle—my mom's house is right on the edge of the downtown area, so I still would get that big city feel, but it was only a five minute drive and then I could be in a totally relaxed, quiet area, or riding the ferryboats."

"You like ferryboats?"

"Yeah—they're so serene. My dad used to take me whale watching trips from Seattle to British Columbia. It would be like a two hour round trip, but it was so much fun."

"I have a thing for ferryboats."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, I don't know what it is. New York has a few ferryboats that travel around Long Island, so I took advantage of that whenever I could."

"There aren't any ferryboats around here are there?" She turned her head to look in his eyes.

"I'm afraid not."

"That's too bad," she said as she shifted so she was laying next to him, face to face. He scooted closer to her, put his hand behind her head, and slowly brought her lips to meet his. They laid there kissing and cuddling for what seemed like hours, truly enjoying each other's company.

They started walking back to the car around midnight when they had finished the bottle of wine and it got too cold out for them, even when laying in each other's arms. "Shit," Meredith muttered when they were about five minutes from his car.

"What is it Mer?" He asked looking at her.

"My heel broke. That's what I get for buying cute, but cheap-ass shoes at Payless."

He laughed as he bent down a bit. "Here, climb aboard." She laughed and jumped on his back and wrapped her legs around his waist and he gave her a piggy back ride back to the car, laughing the whole way. They got in the car and Derek started it, but when he backed it up he heard a loud noise as the car jerked to a stop. "Shit, what was that? Stay here." He got out of the car, walked around to the back of the car, and noticed he had a flat back right tire. He walked over to Meredith's door and opened it. "We have a problem."

She got out of the car and looked at him. "What? what's wrong?"

He pointed to the tire. "We have a flat." Meredith started laughing. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing…I think the wine just went to my head."

"I have a spare tire in the trunk, but it's too dark out here to change it—I can't see a freaking thing."

"Huh. So…?"

"So, the way I see it we have two options. We can either call a cab to drive us back and I can come back here in the morning and fix my tire, or we can stay in my car tonight and I can change the tire once it gets light enough outside."

"Hmm…well I vote for the last option, mainly because I'm not ready to go back to my dorm yet anyway."

"Good, I'm glad to hear it." He walked up closer behind her and wrapped his arms around her, resting his hands in the pocket of his hoodie she was wearing. He kissed the top of her head, and as he did so he smelled the sweet smell of lavender in her hair. He let out a slight exhale.

"Okay, not to ruin the mood, but I really have to pee—damn wine," she laughed as she turned around, kissed him quickly, and went over to the port-a-potty that was located at the end of the parking lot, just a few steps from where his car was.

He watched her walk away and then opened the back of his SUV and folded the back seats down completely into the floor so that there was a large, flat surface in the back of his car. He set put the blanket down on the floor of the car, and luckily he had another two blankets from when he and his roommate went camping last summer still in his car. He laid out another blanket to keep them warm and folded one to use as a make-shift pillow for them. Meredith came back from the port-a-potty and found him frantically setting up the back of the car. "If I didn't know better I'd say you planned this."

"Yeah, sleeping on the hard floor of my car…that's how I envisioned our first date ending."

"Well, I still think it was the perfect date."

"Well I'm glad you feel that way, because I'd have to agree with you there." He crawled out the back of his car, gave her a quick kiss, and went back over to the driver's side and dug through the center console. He came back holding his iPod and a tiny set of speakers. "Well, make yourself comfortable because we're going to be here awhile."

She climbed in the back of his car and he followed her, closing the back hatch door behind him. He put turned the ipod on its shuffle setting and set it up on the floor next to them. He was still sitting up when she grabbed the collar of his leather coat and pulled him to her. He covered her mouth with his and slowly parted her lips with his tongue and ran his fingers through her long hair. He pulled away slightly and looked into her eyes, and he felt as though he could see into her soul. He kissed her cheek and moved down her neck as she quietly let out a moan. He kissed her temple and then rolled over and held her in his arms. It was all he could do not to make love to her right then and there—he didn't want their whole relationship to be based on sex, and he wanted to take it slow. She snuggled up to him and rested her hand on his chest. She was happy that even inside his car it was still chilly, because she was happy to have a reason to be close to him all night, and she loved the way his sweatshirt felt when she wore it. They drifted to sleep, wrapped in each other's arms, listening to his ipod—which coincidentally played sweet romantic songs all night.


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: Sorry it took so long for me to get this up...I'll post more soon to make up for it! **

The next morning Derek woke up first around 8am, and he smiled when he saw that Meredith was still tucked underneath his arms. She looked so peaceful and relaxed, and he didn't want to disturb her, so he tried to sneak out as quietly as possible, but when he moved arm that was wrapped around her lower back she stirred. "Where do you think you're going?" She playfully asked as she pulled on his arm to bring him back down on the floor of the car.

"Good morning," he said as he kissed her forehead and then her lips.

"Indeed it is," she smiled.

"I have to go change the tire if we want to ever get my car out of this parking lot. You can stay here and sleep while I change the flat."

"No, I'll help," she rolled over and slowly sat up, rubbing her head and remembering all the wine she drank last night.

Derek saw the look of discomfort on her face when she first sat up. "Wine headaches are the worst, aren't they?" Meredith nodded. "Well that's what you get for drinking the majority of the bottle. I have a water bottle in the driver's cup holder up front. There might be some aspirin somewhere too."

"Thanks." She got up and crawled into the front seat and took the water bottle, but couldn't find any aspirin. She looked in the glove compartment—"Uh, Derek?" He looked up at her. "Condoms, really?"

He held up two fingers. "Boy scouts motto: always be prepared." She laughed and after unsuccessfully attempting to find aspirin, she climbed out of the back of the car to help, well, more like watch, Derek change the flat tire.

After Derek had finished changing the flat, they got back in the car and started driving back toward town. "Okay Meredith, you have another decision to make…"

"I'm listening," she smiled over at him. Even with very little sleep and looking very disheveled, Derek still looked gorgeous—his hair was messy from sleeping on the floor and he had well beyond a five o'clock shadow, but she loved the way he looked—she liked the scruffy looking Derek as much as the clean-cut one.

"I can either take you back to your dorm, we can go out someplace for breakfast, or I can take you back to my apartment and attempt to cook you something."

"Hmm…well I vote against the first option, but either of the other two sound fine, so whatever you want to do is fine by me."

"Haha, in that case we'll go out—God only knows what my roommate was up to last night and what kind of condition the apartment is in, and I think we only have really old eggs and cereal anyway."

"Yeah, then going out is definitely the better choice."

"Do you mind crossing state lines?" Derek asked her.

Meredith just stared at him. "What?"

"I figured it's in our best interest not to go to a place near campus for breakfast since a lot of students like going out to breakfast at diners and stuff in the area to feed their hangovers and we don't want everyone knowing about us, so I was going to ask if you mind crossing the state line into Vermont and going to a diner over there."

"Oh," she laughed. "That's totally fine."

"Haha good because the bridge we crossed 5 minutes ago took us out of New Hampshire." They pulled up to a small diner and walked inside.

They talked more over breakfast and Derek apologized for the flat tire incident, but she told him not to worry about it and that she couldn't have imagined a better date. He drove her back to her dorm and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before she got out. "I'll call you later tonight, okay?" She nodded, waved, and walked back into her building smiling.


	21. Chapter 21

Meredith walked in her room to find Christina studying for organic chemistry. "Hi Christina," Meredith said very nonchalantly, trying to act as though it was perfectly normal for her to stay out all night.

"About time you're back…where were you?"

"I told you, I went to the girl's apartment who is in my American lit class to study for a test, and then we went out to bars."

Christina smirked. "And you're only returning now…do tell! Who was he…"

"Who was who?"

"You expect me to believe you stayed out all night and there was no he? Seriously Meredith, spill, now."

"Nothing. We met up with some people and went out, got drunk, and everyone passed out on her floor." Wow, Meredith was impressed with her ability to bullshit and make it sound believable.

Christina stared at her, trying to tell if Meredith was lying. Meredith looked her straight in the eyes and didn't quiver. "Seriously? No sex with any hot guys?"

"Seriously. Sorry to disappoint you." Technically, Meredith wasn't lying about that part.

"Oh."

Meredith let out a silent sigh of relief. "So how was the 80s party?"

"Miserable. Hundreds of people crammed into a tiny frat house's living room dancing to bad 80s pop music that shouldn't have been played back then, let alone today. There was barely enough room to move, and it was hot and sweaty and so gross. And some creepy guy tried to feel me up on the dance floor."

"Aww I'm sorry. Did George have fun?"

"I think so. I ended up losing him and Olivia halfway through the night."

Meredith left the dorm room to go take a shower and when she returned Christina was on Meredith's cell phone. "Christina, why are you on my phone?"

"It kept ringing and it was interfering with my studying so I decided to answer it."

Meredith's heart started racing—she didn't think Derek would call back so soon, and she was worried that Christina would find out about them. "Who was it?"

"Well when I answered it, it was some girl from your American lit class asking about notes, but it said you had 2 missed calls, but I didn't look at those."

"Oh okay, thanks. Oh, and I saw Olivia taking the Walk of Shame when I went to go shower."

"Walk of Shame…?"

"When you're leaving a guy's dorm or apartment after spending the night and you have the same clothes on as you did the night before…"

"Oh." Then Christina realized what Meredith was saying, "Oh! Go George! Glad to see he got his."

Meredith checked her missed calls--one from the girl Christina talked to and one from someone else in her class--no Derek.


	22. Chapter 22

A few hours after dinner Meredith was sitting on her bed reading when her phone rang—she looked at the caller ID and her heart jumped. "Hello?"

"Hi beautiful."

She blushed. "Hey."

"So I just had this amazing date with this gorgeous girl last night…"

"Really…well do tell."

"I don't think I need to explain much, considering you were there and all."

"Haha, true."

"So, I had fun, and you had fun, so I think it'll be a bit hard for you to turn me down for a second date."

"This is also true." Meredith felt herself getting giddy, but she had to keep her composure since Christina was only a few feet away.

"What are you up to next Saturday night?"

"Um…I don't have any plans."

"Well now you do."

"Is that so?"

"Yes, it is."

"Good."

"Alright, well I have to go, but meet me after chem lab this week and we can figure out where and what time we want to go."

"Okay, where do you want me to meet you Tuesday?"

"Umm...how about our favorite stairwell?"

"Sounds good."

"Bye beautiful."

Meredith smiled. "Bye."

She hung up the phone and Christina looked up from her computer. "Meet who Tuesday?"

Meredith quickly thought of an excuse. "Oh, that was a guy in my calculus class…he wants to review before our quiz Tuesday afternoon." Even Meredith was impressed with how well she could make up excuses.

"Ooo…is this guy hot?"

"The guy in my calculus class?" Meredith quickly pictured some of the guys in her math class…"No, not at all."

"Damn. I need a man."


	23. Chapter 23

Tuesday during her chem lab Meredith noticed that Derek gave her subtle glances throughout the class—it sent chills down her spine. In the middle of the experiment Derek was making the rounds, checking on each set of lab partners to make sure they knew what they were doing. "Very nice, Christina," he said as he walked by, and she proudly smiled at the compliment. "Meredith, you might have better luck if you hold the tube at this angle," he said as he took her hand that was holding the test tube and shifted it just slightly, while resting his other hand on her lower back.

She felt his breath on her ear and shivered. "Thank you, Derek, you're right—it is easier that way." He walked away and left her there, wanting nothing more than to kiss him. She quickly pulled herself together, and looked over at Christina who was intently focusing on her experiment, and still relishing the compliment she had received.

After class Meredith and Christina walked out, but Meredith knew she had to get rid of Christina so she could go meet Derek. "Uh Christina?"

"Yeah."

"I have to go meet that guy from my calc class, so go ahead to lunch without me."

"Oh, okay." Christina walked away to go meet up with George for lunch and Meredith quickly walked into the stairwell and waited.

Meredith was sitting on the window ledge and leaned her head against the window when she heard the door to the stairwell door open. She quickly looked over to see who walked in. "Christina?"

"Meredith? What are you doing? I thought you had to go meet the guy from calculus…"

"I am, I mean I do have to meet him."

"Then why are you in a stairwell?"

"Um…" Meredith quickly tried to think of an excuse. "Well he is in a biology lab right now, so I figured I'd wait here for him to be done since he has to come down the stairs eventually." Christina just looked at her. "What are you doing here? I thought you were meeting George for lunch."

"I am, but he called and said his biology lab was running late so I thought I'd wait for him upstairs in the floor lounge, but I guess since you're waiting too I'll just join you." Christina hopped up on the window ledge.

"Shit," Meredith thought to herself. Just then the door opened again and sure enough Derek walked through the door. "Shit," she thought again.

"Hi Meredith," he said, as Meredith quickly nodded to Christina so he would see that there was another person in the stairwell. "Hi Christina." He gave Meredith a look as he walked by and took out his Blackberry and walked up the stairs.

Christina watched as he walked up the stairs. "Damn, he's fine. I still can't believe you slept with him."

"Christina!"

"What? What's even more unbelievable is that you aren't going to try to sleep with him again."

Meredith thought to herself, "Does Christina know?" She realized there's no way she could, they had been so careful about sneaking around. "Well, he's our TA."

"Yeah, that would be a pretty stupid thing to pursue."

"Yeah…" Meredith mumbled to herself as she started thinking that maybe Christina was right. But she and Derek had a great time on their date, even though they didn't sleep together, so it would be hard to give up on something like that. Suddenly her thoughts were interrupted when her phone beeped to tell her she had a text message. She dug through her tote bag, pulled out her phone, and read it—it was from Derek. "So slight change in plans," it read. "Meet me in my office on the 3rd floor." She sent him a quick "okay" message back, and got up to leave.

"Where are you going? Your calc guy isn't here yet."

"Uh, well that text message I just got was from him. He said he got done with his lab and he's outside waiting for me—I guess he took the elevator down instead. I'll see you back at the dorm later. Say hi to George for me."

"Okay. See ya."


	24. Chapter 24

**A/N: sorry i couldn't update yesterday...my college was having a dance marathon so I was ridiculously busy for that...but here's an update:) **

Meredith walked out of the stairwell and quickly grabbed an elevator to go up to the 3rd floor (since she couldn't take the stairs since Christina was there). She walked over to where the TA offices were and knocked on Derek's door.

She heard a voice from inside. "Come in!"

"Hey," she said as she walked in and looked around.

"Hey beautiful…no one else is here, so we're good."

"Okay good," she said as she closed the door behind her.

He stood up and walked over to her, and gave her a quick, but passionate kiss. "I've been waiting for three days to do that."

She sighed. "Yeah, me too." She snapped out of her dreamy daze. "Sorry about Christina…she decided to wait for our friend and saw me there 'waiting for some guy from my calculus class.'"

Derek laughed. "So this calculus guy, should I feel threatened?"

"Hmm…I think you should be okay."

"Glad to hear that. So, Saturday night…"

"Yes, Saturday…"

"Do you have any special requests?"

"Well, considering I've only lived here a few weeks, I don't really know what all there is to do besides frat parties."

"Haha, well, I've never been a big fan of frat parties. Except for this one I went to this year—damn, I met this hot chick and ended up having some amazing sex that night, but fell off her bed and ended up naked on her floor for the rest of the night."

Meredith laughed. "Really? You don't say, I had a similar experience." Derek raised his eyebrow at her, but she cut him off. "Yeah, ha-ha, very funny, Meredith slept with a girl after a frat party—get your mind out of the gutter."

Derek laughed. "Okay, seriously though, is there anything specific you want to do or see here? We can always go out to dinner someplace, or catch a movie, or go to a bar or something."

"Any of those sound great—except for the bar, unless you know where I can get a fake ID."

"Ah, well I'll see what I can do about that for the future, but in the mean time we can opt for something else. Oh! I totally know what we can do."

"Care to fill me in?"

"No, you'll see," he said as he smiled at her and sat down in his chair.

"You're not going to tell me?"

He pulled her down so she was sitting in his lap. He gave her a quick kiss behind her ear and whispered, "you liked the last time I surprised you, did you not?"

She smiled and turned her head to look him in the eyes. "I definitely liked it…"

"Good, then you'll just have to trust me."

"Fine. But at least tell me what to wear…some sort of guideline so I don't show up in jeans to a black-tie restaurant."

"Haha, whatever you want will be fine—casual will be perfectly okay."

"Alrighty then." She leaned in and kissed him. "I should go." She stood up and walked over to the door.

"What? Why?"

"Well, I actually have a calculus test in a half hour, so I should probably go cram so I don't completely fail."

He stood up and walked over to her, giving her their "look" as he leaned in and kissed her "Good luck."

She stared at him and gave him another kiss when there was a knock on the door. They both jumped startled as she grabbed her tote bag off the floor and said while she opened the door, "Thanks again, Derek, for the help."

"That's why I'm here. See you in lab next week, Meredith." He turned his attention to the man at the door. "Ah, Professor Miller, what brings you by?"

Meredith closed the door behind her and let out a sigh of relief, and walked off smiling as she went to go take her math test.


	25. Chapter 25

**A/N: Email alerts arent' working...boo. I thought everyone had stopped reading this because I wasn't told I had reviews, but then when I came on here and looked I did have quite a few so yay! Hopefully email alerts will work soon so you guys are updated when I add chapters. **

The rest of the week went by rather quickly, which Meredith appreciated. Friday night George talked Meredith and Christina into going out to dinner with him and Olivia in town and then they had a movie and margarita fest in his room. His roommate ended up dropping out of college due to family issues, so George now had a "dingle" (a double room with a single occupant.) After many batches of margaritas, the four of them were significantly wasted. As soon as Christina and Meredith stumbled across the hall to their room, they passed out.

Meredith woke up Saturday morning, shortly after 11am, with a massive hangover. She grabbed her head as she slowly sat up and coaxed herself off her bed and over to her dresser. She pulled out the bottle of aspirin from her medicine cabinet and took two while she downed a bottle of water in an attempt to re-hydrate her body. She heard a moan and looked over at Christina who was starting to wake up. Meredith walked over and handed her a bottle of water and aspirin. "Here, this helps."

"Ugh…stop yelling."

"I'm not," Meredith whispered. "You're just really hungover."

"Bite me. So are you."

"True." Meredith sat back down on her bed and laid down, hoping her headache would go away.

"Ugh, I'm starving, want to go to breakfast?" Christina asked as she finally emerged from under the covers, still wearing the jeans and tank top she had on the night before.

"Hell yeah." Meredith got up, grabbed her ID and room key, and followed Christina out the door and down to the dining hall.

Christina and Meredith sat down at a table and were quickly joined by a exhausted Olivia and George. "Hey guys," they said as they sat down.

"Morning. Anyone else feel like they want to crawl in a hole and die?" Olivia asked.

"You have no idea." Christina answered.

"That's why I love tequila. You guys are amateurs, though," Meredith said. She had her vast experience with tequila shots and tequila beverages of all sorts, so her body knew how to process it well.

"You're not hungover?" George asked Meredith doubtfully.

"I am, well I was. Two aspirins and a bottle of water later and I'm good to go."

"I hate you," Olivia said and Meredith laughed.

"So what are you guys up to tonight?" George asked.

"Not drinking," Christina said. Everyone laughed and nodded in agreement. "I need a night off from that."

"As far as I know there aren't any parties on campus tonight. One of the frats got busted last weekend and is in danger of losing their charter, so all of them are a little hesitant to throw big parties," Olivia said. Her older brother was the President of the Inter-Fraternity Council at Dartmouth and had warned her to be careful since the IFC would be patrolling frat parties and handing out citations to underage drinkers.

"Wow that sucks," Meredith said.

"Well I definitely want to do something. I just had a huge organic chem test yesterday, and I want to relax," George said.

"Definitely. What if we went to a bar or something and just hung out, or went bowling or something," Christina suggested. "Or we could have another movie night, and just not drink an entire handle of tequila."

George looked at Olivia and she nodded. "That works for us, you in Mer?"

"Uh, actually, I can't."

"What? Why?" Christina asked.

"I uh…ha ha, um, I have a date," Meredith answered after much hesitation.

"You what?" Christina asked, shocked, and kind of appalled that her roommate and best friend at school hadn't mentioned this yet.

"Yeah. It's not really a big deal," Meredith hoped she wasn't blushing, since in reality it was a huge deal and she had been looking forward to it all week.

"With who?" George asked.

Meredith thought for a moment. "No one you know. Just a guy from one of my classes."

Christina looked disappointed. "So does this mean I don't get to make fun of you anymore in chem lab about you-know-who?"

"I guess so."

"Who's 'you-know-who'" George asked.

"Well I guess there's no harm in telling him now," Christina said, smirking at Meredith.

"Christina, no."

"Fine, but you're no fun," Christina said as she went back to eating her Belgian waffle. "Do I at least get to meet the guy?"

"No. At least not tonight, anyway."

"Do I need to find someplace else to sleep tonight?" Christina asked. "I don't want to come back home to see 'DND' on the door and not have a backup plan."

"You should be fine—that won't be an issue." Meredith seemed to be trying to convince herself more than Christina that this was the case. She knew that they were getting to that point where she would inevitably sleep with him again whether she wanted to or not—and she wanted to. She was falling for him, even though everything in her head told her not to.


	26. Chapter 26

When she got back to her dorm she saw that she had a voicemail from Derek on her cell phone. She got a little worried at first, afraid that he may be canceling. "Hey beautiful, it's Derek, I just realized that we never set a time for tonight, so I'll be there at 7 unless that time doesn't work for you. I'll see you tonight." Meredith let out a sigh of relief and sat down to watch some mindless television.

The afternoon went by slowly, and around 5 o'clock Meredith decided it wasn't too early to get ready and took a shower. She blow dried her hair and straightened it, and then got dressed. Since Derek said casual was fine, she decided on a pair of dark jeans and a grey off-the-shoulder long sleeve shirt with a cute belt (_think the NY&CO advertisements, lol,) _and sat at her computer playing on the internet to pass the time. At 7 o'clock she went down to the lobby to wait for Derek, and like the last two times he came to pick her up, he was right on time.

She walked outside, saw that no one was around, and gave him a quick hug. "Hey you," he said as he kissed her cheek and escorted her toward his car, "You look amazing."

"Hey yourself, and thank you. You look handsome." He had on a pair of nice khaki cargo pants and a black polo shirt. "So where are we going?"

"You'll see."

"You really like keeping me in the dark about these things don't you."

He laughed. "It's more fun that way."

"Is that so?"

"Yep. I like seeing your face when you see where we are. If I had told you last time I was taking you to a cute little family owned colonial restaurant, you wouldn't have been surprised when you got inside and your eyes wouldn't have lit up as much. I like your reactions."

"Alrighty then," she said as she smiled. How could one guy be so sweet? They talked for awhile and then pulled into a parking lot. She got out of the car and looked at where they were. "We're at a grocery store?"

"Yeah. Well, I didn't know what kind of foods you like, other than the chicken you ordered at the restaurant last weekend, and I wanted to cook dinner for you. So I figured I'd bring you here, that way you can pick out what you like." They started walking toward the entrance and he took her hand in his.

She smiled. "Seriously? Wow. What if I pick out something really complicated?"

"Well, I'm an amazing cook—if I do say so myself—so I'd be surprised if there's anything you can come up with that I can't figure out."

"You're amazing, eh? Well we'll just have to see about that," she said as she leaned in toward him and smirked.

"Are we still talking about cooking?" he asked as he whispered in her ear.

She shot him a playful offended look and ran ahead to grab a shopping cart. He ran to catch up to her and they walked into the store. "Oh and to answer your question," she said, turning toward him as he pushed the cart, "I wasn't necessarily talking about cooking."

Derek laughed. "Good to know. So what kind of food are you in the mood for?" He asked as they walked through the produce section.

"Hmm…how about Italian—pasta, bread, a good salad…"

"That we can do, but are you sure you don't want something more complicated?"

"No need—I'm a simple girl." She smiled as she grabbed some tomatoes to add to their cart.

"That's what I love about you," he said as they walked toward the pasta aisle.


	27. Chapter 27

After they checked out, it was only a short ride back to Derek's apartment. She helped him unload the groceries and walked up to his second floor apartment. "Wow, your place is gorgeous!" She was surprised at how large the apartment was, considering he was a med student and probably had some serious student loans to pay off. There was a large main room that was very sleek and modern—hardwood floors, a flat screen plasma television mounted on the wall, black leather couches, and a pool table. That room connected to a decent sized kitchen and dining area, and then there was a hallway that leads to two bedrooms and a bathroom.

"Thanks. Although most of the decorating credit goes to my roommate—he's into the modern minimalist 'city chic' décor. If it were up to me it'd be a lot more relaxed."

Meredith laughed. "Is your roommate gay?"

Derek stared, almost angrily, for a second at the wall in front of him—Meredith was oblivious to this. He then said, "No…he's anything but gay." He turned around and looked at Meredith as she was getting some lettuce out of the fridge to start making the salad and his mood instantly brightened. He walked over to her while she was still looking in the fridge and wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed the top of her head. "Ready to be amazed?"

She turned around to face him and closed the refrigerator door. "Oh yeah." She leaned in and kissed him quickly, and then walked away and started looking for a bowl to mix the salad in.

Meredith made the salad and made a balsamic dressing from scratch from her grandmother's recipe, while Derek cooked the penne pasta and grilled chicken in his George Forman Grill. He added the pesto sauce he had learned to make from his mother to the pasta, and then started to toast a few slices of Italian bread they had bought and grabbed some garlic from the spice rack. "Go easy on the garlic," she said quietly as she crept up behind him and rested her hands on his stomach. "Garlic breath isn't the most appealing fragrance."

On that note he threw the bottle of garlic in the sink. "Well, we wouldn't want that now would we?" He grabbed some olive oil and parmesan cheese instead. He grabbed two wine glasses out of the cabinet and handed them to Meredith as she began to set the table. He went over and pulled her seat out for her, and then proceeded to light two candles that were on the table. He dimmed the lights and brought over the two plates of pasta, and then the bread and the bowl of salad she had made. He poured some red wine into the glasses and sat down across from her. He lifted his glass, and she did the same. "To a wonderful dinner and second official date."

They clinked their glasses as Meredith giggled and then sipped her wine. "Wow, you weren't lying when you said you were an amazing cook!" Meredith said as she took her first bite of Derek's chicken penne pasta with pesto sauce.

"Well what can I say? I had an amazing assistant," he said as he took a sip of his wine. Meredith smiled.

They continued to eat their dinner and talking about normal second date type topics, and then decided to watch some old 80's movie that was on TV. Meredith laid her head on Derek's chest and he wrapped his arm around her waist. They both nodded off near the end of the movie, and when she woke up she gave Derek a gentle kiss, which he promptly returned.

They laid on the couch making out like sex-crazed teenagers (which face it, these days they are) when Meredith stood up, turned around to face Derek and held out her hand. He took her hand and she started walking down the hallway that lead to the bedrooms with a smirk on her face. "Which door?"

"The last one on the left," he said hurrying to keep up with her as she started to jog down the hall. She opened the door and pulled him inside and quickly closed the door and pushed him up against it. She kissed him again as she wrapped her arms around his waist and moved her hands up his back as she locked the door behind him. She stopped and pulled back a little, then grabbed his hand and walked him away from the door and over to the king sized bed. She pushed him down so he was sitting on the edge of the bed and she crawled into his lap, straddling him. She started kissing him again, and then kissed his neck and lightly bit his ear. He moaned quietly as he ran his hands down her back. She pushed him back so he was lying down and she continued to kiss him. She started taking off his shirt and fumbling with his belt buckle as he pulled her sweater over her head. They continued to shed their clothing as they looked intensely into each other's eyes. "Are you sure you want to do this?" Derek asked. Even though they had a drunken one-night stand and therefore had already slept with each other, he wanted to make sure she wouldn't do anything she regretted.

"Oh yeah," She said as she climbed on top of him and put her hands on the headboard.

When they finished, Meredith fell beside Derek and let out a major sigh. "Thank you."

Derek laughed. "You, my dear, are more than welcome." He rolled over to face her, propped his head up on his hand, and looked into her eyes. She grabbed the back of his head and brought him down to her, meeting his lips with hers. She gently ran her fingers through his soft, wavy hair, and he ran his free hand down the side of her sheet covered body. He pulled away slightly, then kissed her quickly and passionately one last time, and then wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her to him as they drifted off to sleep.


	28. Chapter 28

The next morning Derek woke up and smiled when he saw Meredith still asleep, resting her head on his chest, with her arm wrapped around his waist and her leg draped around his. She started to stir and looked up at him. "Good morning, beautiful," he said as he brushed the hair out of her face.

She smiled and laid her head back down on his chest and pulled herself toward him, giving him a hug. "Good morning, Derek." He kissed the top of her head and could still smell a hint of lavender in her hair. She looked back up at him and her eyes widened. "Good morning, indeed." She said as she could feel Derek with "morning wood." She kissed his chest and worked her way up to his lips. She climbed on top of him but he rolled over and pulled her underneath him.

Afterward Derek got out of bed and threw on a pair of boxers. "What would you like for breakfast?" He asked as he tossed her a Dartmouth Medical School t-shirt out of his dresser to wear.

She smiled as she smelled the shirt and pulled it over her head. "Well, I already had one hell of a breakfast, but as far as food is concerned, I'm sure whatever you have in your fridge and/or cabinet will be fine." She crawled out of his bed and he walked over to her, handed her a clean pair of his boxers, and gave her a kiss. She pulled on his boxers and folded the waistband down since they were quite big for her tiny figure.

"I gotta say, I never thought a girl could look so hot in my clothing," he said as he wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her neck.

"Haha, if you keep doing this we'll never get anything to eat."

"Good point, and after the strenuous activity last night and this morning, I've worked up quite an appetite." He quickly picked her up and carried her down the hallway to the kitchen, both of them giggling the whole way.

A tall guy with a muscular build was standing in the kitchen searching through the fridge and looked startled when they came in. "Derek? What are you doing here?"

"Uh, I live here?" Derek set Meredith down on the floor and looked at his roommate questioningly.

"I thought you were going to be in Vermont this weekend?"

"I changed my mind. Why, what's the big deal?" Meredith just stood there looking back and forth between the two guys.

"Oh, nothing."

"Okay then. Meredith, this is my roommate Mark Sloan, Mark, this is Meredith Grey."

Meredith and Mark shook hands. "Nice to meet you, Meredith. Your last name is Grey? That wouldn't happen be in relation to Dr. Ellis Grey, would it?"

"Yeah, she's my mother."

"No kidding. I've always respected her work—she's an amazing surgeon."

"You're in med school as well I take it?"

"Yeah—third year."

"Okay, we have eggs, frozen waffles, and cereal…take your pick," Derek said to Meredith.

"Cereal is fine," Meredith said. Mark took milk out of the fridge and handed it to Meredith.

"Thanks." She walked over and set it down on the table, and then walked over to where Derek was standing to pick out a cereal.

"I'm a Muesli fan myself, but we do have some normal cereal as well." Derek said as he grabbed two bowls and two spoons.

"I'm fine with Muesli," she said as she grabbed the box of cereal.

"Seriously? You eat that shit?" Mark asked as he grabbed a cup of yogurt out of the fridge.

"Yeah, it's good and it's healthy, what more could I want?"

"Derek, seriously man, marry this chick. She's probably the only girl you'll ever meet who can stomach, let alone likes, Muesli," Mark said smirking as he walked out of the kitchen and back down the hall.

Derek let out a laugh as he set the bowls down on the table. Meredith went over, sat down in the chair next to him, and poured herself a bowl. "So how did you and Mark meet?"

"We've known each other since senior year of high school. He ended up going to Georgetown for two years, but transferred to NYU his junior year when his mom got sick and he wanted to be closer to home. Then we both came here for medical school."

"Oh wow, so you guys go way back."

"Yeah, he was like a brother to me, since I lived in a house with four sisters. Aside from my father, he was my only relief from an abundance of estrogen."

After they ate breakfast they curled up on the couch to watch some crappy MTV reality show reruns, and every once in awhile one of them would sneak a kiss to the other one.

**A/N: Good job to those who predicted Mark as the roommate - I love Mark, so of course he's going to be in my story, and not nearly the ass he is on the show (although he's getting better these past few weeks). These past two chapters have been happy, but there's some drama and angst coming up :-D**


	29. Chapter 29

A few minutes later they heard a door open at the end of the hallway and they both looked over and saw a tall, thin girl with dark red hair walking out of Mark's room wearing a guy's button up dress shirt and nothing else. Mark was chasing after her. "Addison, seriously." She looked back at him, smirked, and continued walking.

Derek got a look of disgust on his face when she walked into the room, while Meredith just sat there looking confused. "Well, isn't this cozy," Addison said as she looked at Derek who still had his arm around Meredith.

"Addison, what are you doing here?"

She walked over behind the couch, rested her elbows on the back between Meredith and Derek, and leaned over. "What's it to you? It looks like you've been making yourself quite busy."

"Addison, please," Mark said from the side of the room.

"Addison, seriously. Go walk your whore of a self back to Mark's room and spread your legs—that is what you do best, isn't it?"

"Ooo, ouch," she said, sarcastically as she looked over at Meredith. "Derek, aren't you going to introduce us?"

"You're not worthy of an introduction, Addison," he said coldly to her as he turned his focus back to the TV and tightened his grip on Meredith's shoulder.

"Fine, then. Hi, I'm Addison Montgomery," she said extending her hand out to Meredith from behind the couch.

"Uh, hi. I'm Meredith Grey."

"Oh, Ellis Grey's daughter. I remember Derek saying her daughter was his organic chemistry lab section. I'm a TA in that class as well, for a different group of students, but I'm sure you're too busy lusting after Derek to notice."

"Addison, that's enough out of you," Derek said as he looked at her with a warning glare.

"So Meredith, do you make a habit of sleeping with your TA's? Or is Derek just an exception."

Before Meredith could say anything Derek took Meredith's hand and walked out of the room and back down the hall toward Derek's bedroom. "Addison, go back to Hell where you belong."

Derek and Meredith walked back into his room and he closed the door behind him as he let out a sigh. "Meredith, I'm so sorry." Meredith just stood there, kind of staring out into space, looking confused, hurt, and embarrassed. "Meredith?"

"What the…who is she? Where does she get off calling me a whore?" A tear rolled down Meredith's face as she took a seat on Derek's bed.

He walked over to her and kneeled down on the ground as he wiped the tears from her cheek. "Meredith, what she said to you was totally uncalled for. She's a horrible, horrible person. She's just jealous and angry with me, and so she's taking it out on you."

"What? Why though?"

Derek got up off the floor, took a seat next to Meredith, and took her hand in his. "Addison and I used to date—we were engaged actually, up until a month ago." Meredith's jaw dropped. "We met in college and started dating our senior year, and then we both came here for med school. A year ago I proposed to her—it seemed like the next logical step. We never really got very far with wedding plans, because we were planning on having a really long engagement—we figured we'd get married between med school graduation and starting our internships." Meredith started to silently cry, afraid that Derek was using her as a rebound girl. He saw her tears and wiped them away. "Anyway, about a month ago I was supposed to go spend a weekend in Manhattan with my family since it was the last time I'd be able to get away before fall semester started. My mom called me the afternoon I was supposed to leave and said that my dad was called to a business meeting out of state and she was really sick, so I shouldn't bother coming. So instead of going to the airport after work I came back home. When I came back to my apartment I could tell something was different—nothing was different, everything was the same, but I still felt that something had changed. I walked through the apartment, dropped my suitcase off in my bedroom, and went to go into the bathroom. I heard the shower running so I knew Mark was in there, but I went in anyway. I walked in and realized why I felt something different when I came home that day—inside the bathroom, in the shower, Addison, my fiancée, was cheating on me with Mark. They saw me, I saw them, and I turned around and walked out of the apartment. It was just so common and dirty. From that moment on she meant nothing to me. It's unforgivable what she did."

Meredith could see the tears forming in Derek's eyes as he recounted the story that had probably been the biggest heartbreak he'd ever experienced. "Wow."

"Yeah. And now I see that they haven't stopped sleeping together since that day."

"How can you forgive him?"

"I can't. That's why he is no longer my best friend—he's just the guy I happen to live with. He's just my roommate. Both of our names are on the lease, so unless I want to take a major financial hit I can't get out of it until the end of this year."

"Oh." She stood up and looked at him. "So what am I to you? The girl you screwed to get over being screwed?"

"No, Meredith, not at all. You're like a breath of fresh air. It's like I was drowning and you saved me." She continued to stand there and look at him. "Meredith," he said as he stood up and lightly reached for her arms, "You are not some random girl I found to sleep with as revenge. You're not a rebound. I care about you—more than I actually believed was possible. After only two weeks I feel so much more connected to you than I did with Addison after two months or even after two years with her." He leaned in and gave her a gentle kiss to reassure her.

She looked up into his eyes and could tell he was telling the truth. "And you're sure you're over her?"

"Completely. From that moment she didn't exist to me anymore. The weird thing is, I wasn't even angry that she slept with Mark—I was more hurt that he would sleep with her. I wasn't jealous, or mad—I was just numb. Our whole relationship was based on medicine, and we were just together out of convenience. It never would have worked out with her and me. And as you saw this morning, she can be a heartless bitch when she wants to."

"Is she over you?"

"I think so. I think she was just trying to get under my skin this morning by attacking you. She and Mark are clearly together—it actually makes sense because he's been sneaking around quite a bit recently. Maybe she's mad since I didn't give her the reaction she thought I would when I caught them. But I don't care about them, I care about you. You have nothing to worry about."

Meredith let out a small smile and he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly. "Oh my God!"

"What?" Derek asked her concerned as she pulled away.

"She's a TA in the class, and she knows about us now. This can't be good."

"Don't worry about Addison. I don't think she'd do anything, and even if she did, it wouldn't matter. First of all, everyone knows she and I broke up so I don't think people would believe her, and secondly, what we're doing isn't against any rules, so it doesn't matter."

"Are you sure you're willing to risk your reputation as a TA though for this? What if it turns out to be against the rules?"

"I don't care. All I know is that I want to be with you, so I don't care who finds out, or what people say about us."

She looked up at his face, and nervously bit her bottom lip as she thought about it. "Okay then!" She pushed him back on the bed and started kissing him. He couldn't help but laugh at the way she literally pounced on him, which made her start to giggle as well. She rolled off of him and looked over at him, both laughing almost uncontrollably.

"What a random morning, right?" He said as he tried to catch his breath. They both composed themselves as he sat up and pulled her up as well. "So we're okay? You're willing to see where this goes?"

"Definitely." She leaned in and softly kissed him, resting one hand on his thigh and wrapping the other around his waist.

**A/N: So there was a bit of drama for you, and there will be more intense drama on the way. And I really do love Addison, she's my favorite character and my total girl-crush, but I really needed her to be a bitch in the story, so she is. Sorry Addie lovers. She's nice in my other fics tho! **


	30. Chapter 30

When she pulled away she noticed the clock behind him on his dresser. "Oh my God it's 12:30? I should head back soon or Christina will really freak out."

Derek laughed, stood up, and started looking around his room for her clothing. "Alrighty, here we have a pair of jeans," he said as he tossed them to Meredith, who was still sitting on his bed and started laughing. "Here is a sweater…" He got down on the floor, looked under his bed, and pulled out her bra that had managed to hide itself under it. "Ah, he here is one of your unmentionables" he said as he threw it at her and it hit her in the face.

"Hey, watch where you're throwing things," she said giggling.

"Sorry about that. Wow, we must have been really excited last night, because I can't find your panties."

"Seriously?" She got off the bed and put her bra and sweater back on. "We should probably try to find them."

"Or you could just go commando…that's hot you know."

Meredith laughed. "Haha, well I don't see what other choice I have. As comfy as your boxers are, I think they might be a bit bulky underneath my jeans."

"Well," he said as he walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her waist, "they do look quite sexy on you."

She leaned in and kissed him quickly. "Is that so? Well, I think they look hot on you, too."

She walked away and grabbed her jeans that he had thrown at her earlier and quickly changed. "Don't worry, I'm not looking," Derek said as he covered his eyes with his hands.

She laughed. "It's not like you haven't already seen it all, Derek." She said as she handed his boxers back to him. "Wow, this commando thing is weird, yet surprising freeing and comfortable."

Derek sighed. "Don't say things like that or you're never leaving here, ever." She laughed as she grabbed his hand and lead him out of the room. He picked up his car keys and they walked outside to his parking space.

When they got in the car Meredith realized she had left her purse in his car the whole time, so she picked up her cell phone. "Shit."

Derek looked over her concerned. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, I just have like 5 missed calls from Christina. Oops."

Derek laughed as he drove out onto the main road. "Do you know what you're going to tell her?"

"Well I told her I had a date with a guy from one of my classes, so I'll just say it went really well."

"You can tell her if you want to. It may be easier if she knows, just so you don't have to hide as much. But it's totally up to you."

"You don't think it will be weird in class if she knows we're together?"

"She already knows we slept together that one night, right? So what difference does it make? It can't be anymore awkward than it already is."

"Yeah, you're right. I guess I will if it comes up." Derek drove into the parking lot near her dorm and Meredith grabbed her purse and gave him a kiss. "Thank you for an amazing date, aside from your ex-fiancée calling me a whore."

"Haha, yeah sorry about that. But you're very welcome. I'll call you later, okay?"

"You better." She closed the car door and waved as she turned to walk back to her dorm.


	31. Chapter 31

She walked in her dorm and was relieved that Christina wasn't there. She decided to shower, which would also give her sometime to think of how much she wanted to tell Christina about everything that had happened the past few weeks. She walked to the bathroom, turned the shower on and waited for the water to get hot before she took off her robe and got in. She started going over everything that had happened in her head. "Meredith, what are you thinking?" She asked herself silently as she let the water run over her body. "He just got out of a very committed, almost 4 year relationship. You can't be falling in love with him, you can't be. It's not logical. It's not reasonable. You need to get out of this before you get hurt." But her mind quickly pushed those doubts away with the memories of the past two dates she had with him, and remembering how amazingly sweet he was.

She got back to her room and Christina was staring at her the second she walked in. "Where the hell have you been?"

Meredith set down her shower caddy and pulled on a pair of track pants, a tank top, and the hoodie she still had from Derek. She sat down on her bed and looked at Christina. "Out."

"Out, you've been out?" Christina looked at Meredith incredulously.

"Yes."

"Okay, seriously. You had a date last night, and didn't come home, so please give me details!"

Meredith took a deep breath. "Fine, you want to know? You really want to know?"

"Yes."

"Because once I tell you, there's no going back."

"Meredith, what the hell did you do?" Christina said, almost laughing.

"Derek."

"What?" Christina looked genuinely confused.

"I did Derek. Twice, actually."

"OH MY GOD!" Christina literally jumped off her bed and ran over to sit next to Meredith. "What the hell? How could you not tell me? How long has this been going on?"

"Okay, well I told you I kissed him in the elevator at the library, and that he kept asking me out at the student union in the salad bar line, right?" Christina nodded. "Well the next day after lab he pulled me into a stairwell to talk and ask me out, but I said no, again. Then I ran into him outside and he gave me this long impressively sweet speech and gave me his number. I called him that night and agreed to go have coffee and to discuss maybe going out with him."

"How did I not know any of this?"

"I'm a good liar, what can I say." Christina rolled her eyes. "Anyway, at coffee I agreed to go out with him, so that's where I was last weekend—not studying with some girl from my class and bar hopping."

"No way. So what did you guys do?"

"He took me to dinner at this really cute colonial place, and then he drove us to this nature walk by the Connecticut River and we had wine and just laid out at the park and looked at the stars and talked. We went back to his car but he ended up getting a flat tire, so he offered to call a cab or we could camp out in the back of his SUV. Needless to say I chose that option—no sex, just sleeping. The next morning we went out to breakfast after he changed the tire, and yeah."

"Wow, that's disgustingly sweet."

"Right? Oh yeah, and this is his sweatshirt. He let me borrow it when we went to the park since it was cold. I don't think he's ever getting it back though, 'cause it's way too comfortable and it smells good."

"You're sick, you know that right?"

"Well, we all have our problems."

"So what about last night?"

"We went to the grocery store because he wanted to cook me dinner, but didn't know what I wanted. We got back to his apartment and made pasta and everything—he is an amazing cook. Then we curled up and watched an old 80s movie on TV, and then went to bed." Meredith started to smile and blush at the memory.

"Just bed? Seriously?"

"Okay, no."

"Damn straight."

"Anyway, this morning—after another rendezvous, thank you very much—we went to go eat breakfast and ran into his roommate. Then his roommate's new girlfriend comes out and starts bitching out Derek and calling me a whore. Oh yeah, she's one of the TAs in our organic chem lab, by the way."

"What? Why did she call you a whore?"

"Because apparently, she and Derek dated for almost four years and were engaged for the last year until he broke up with her a month ago."

"WHAT?"

"Yeah, well, he came home when he was supposed to be going to Manhattan for the weekend, only to find his fiancée having shower sex with his roommate. So that effectively ended their relationship."

"Oh my God! Derek's roommate is screwing his ex-fiancée? Isn't there a law against that or something?"

"Well Derek is pretty pissed off at Mark. They used to be best friends but now he says they're only roommates. He'd move out if he could but he can't due to the lease or something."

Christina just looked stunned at all this new information. "Oh my God. So are you going to keep seeing him?"

"Yeah. He assured me there's nothing there between him and Addison anymore, and that he is 100 percent over her. I was a little worried since she's a TA as well and knows about us now, but Derek doesn't think it will be an issue."

"Wow. Damn, Meredith. I can't believe I didn't notice earlier."

Meredith laughed. "Yeah, me too. I thought you were much more perceptive."


	32. Chapter 32

The next month went by rather quickly. Meredith, Christina, George (who was stunned when he learned Meredith was dating Derek), and Olivia all went to a Halloween party at one of the frats, and the weather was starting to get much colder as winter approached. They were all starting to freak out about finals a bit—they had 2 weeks before Thanksgiving, and then one week between Thanksgiving and Christmas break for finals. Meredith had gone out on a few more dates with Derek since she found out about Mark and Addison, and they were getting along really well. Derek seemed to be forgiving Mark a little more each day, and Mark made sure Derek knew if Addison would be over so he didn't have anymore awkward encounters with Meredith and Addison. Addison never failed to give Meredith a dirty look during organic chemistry, but Meredith had learned to ignore her and shrug it off.

Meredith was sitting in the student union on a Friday afternoon drinking coffee, eating a salad, and reading her psychology notebook when she heard a voice behind her. "There you are! I've been looking for you everywhere." She smiled as Derek came over and took the seat across from her at the table.

"Really?"

"Well, not really. I tried calling you but you didn't answer—I wanted to see if you wanted to grab some lunch…" he looks down at the salad she's finishing, "but I guess I'm too late for that."

"Oh, sorry. I've been here for awhile and my phone doesn't get service in here."

"Ah. Well anyway, do you have plans for tonight?"

"No…not yet anyway. What did you have in mind?" She asked as she leaned in toward him. Their relationship still wasn't public knowledge, so they tried to sneak around as much as they could when they were on campus.

"Well, we've gone on a few more formal dates recently, so I figured it was time for another relaxing, laid-back night. Sound good?"

"You read my mind," she said as she smiled at him. "What time should I expect you?"

"Does 8 o'clock work?" She nodded and he stood up. He walked over to her and bent down slightly to speak quietly in her ear. "Oh, and Mark is out of town this weekend for a conference, so there won't be anyone to bother us." He walked away leaving her anxiously awaiting 8 o'clock.


	33. Chapter 33

When Meredith got back to the dorm, George and Cristina were looking over organic chemistry notes. "Oh, hey guys. What's up?" She asked as she walked in and dropped her tote bag off on her desk.

"Studying for the chemistry final," George said without looking up.

"Already? It's not for another few weeks."

"Yeah, well we wanted to get ahead start since not all of us can sleep with the TA." Cristina said sarcastically.

Meredith looked up with a stunned look on her face. "You did not just say that."

"Oh relax Mer, I'm kidding."

Meredith's face relaxed. "Oh. Well besides, any nepotism Derek gives me will be counteracted with Addison's hatred for me."

"Also very true," Cristina said.

At 8 o'clock Meredith grabbed her bag and her jacket as she got ready to leave. "Don't wait up," she said to Cristina as she left the room.

Some people were leaving the building as Derek arrived so he went into the lobby of her dorm to wait for her. He saw her coming down the stairs and his eyes immediately lit up, but he was quickly distracted by someone talking to him.

"Oh, hi Derek," a girl to his left said. He looked over and recognized the girl as Sarina, a girl in his organic chemistry lab, standing with two other students in the lab as well. "What brings you here?"

"Uh…" Derek was trying to come up with something to say just as Meredith walked up. "Oh, hey Meredith." He looked her in the eyes and she looked confused at first, but she quickly picked up on the awkwardness of the situation when she recognized the girls he was standing with.

Sarina and the other two girls looked confused and suspicious, so Meredith quickly recovered and came up with a viable excuse. "Hey Derek. Thank you so much for offering to drive me to the conference." Derek still looked confused, but went along with it. The other girls still looked suspicious, so she turned to them. "My mom, Dr. Ellis Grey, is speaking at a conference a few hours away from here this weekend and couldn't get over here to pick me up, so since Derek is going anyway as part of his medical school program, he offered to give me a ride."

"We should go so we can get there before it gets too late," he said as he opened the door. "I'll see you girls in class Monday." When they were outside he started laughing. "Nice save."

"Haha, thank you. I thought so. It's the only thing I could think of that they would believe."

"A conference? Very realistic. Just avoid them for the rest of the weekend so they don't know you lied" They got in the car and drove to his apartment, but they stopped to pick up a pizza on the way.

They walked up the three flights of stairs to his apartment when Meredith stopped him. "Shit, I left my bag in your car."

"Do you really need it?"

"Well it has my toothbrush and clothes for tomorrow and everything in it."

He leaned closer to her. "You could always borrow my boxers and shirt again."

She smiled. "Can I have your car keys to go grab it?" He nodded and handed them to her after he unlocked his apartment. He gave her a quick kiss as he went inside to put down the pizza and she went back down stairs.

**A/N: Dun dun dun….just wait :)**


	34. Chapter 34

**A/N: Many of you have asked in the review section, so I'll address it here. Alex and Izzie will not be in this story...I really wanted to get into the Meredith and Derek characters, so it's easier to do that when I don't have as many other characters to worry about. I initially was going to have George's roommate be Alex, and find a way to work in Izzie, but it was too hard and took away from the Mer/Der storyline. As the story goes on too you'll see less of George and Cristina as well, but they won't vanish completely--they'll be there when necessary for sarcastic comments and rambling greatness. So without further ado, the "dun dun dun" part ;) **

Derek walked in and set the pizza on the counter in the kitchen when he heard someone footsteps coming down the hallway. "Mark, you're supposed to be in Connecticut right now," he said as he grabbed a beer and a Mike's Hard Lemonade out of the fridge.

"Oh, he is." Derek looked over to see Addison posing in the doorway to the kitchen in a very short black lacey babydoll nightgown.

"Addison, how the hell did you get in here?"

"I still have the key you gave me, and after you and I broke up I gave it back to Mark but he told me to keep it," she said as she seductively walked over to him and put her hand on his arm.

"What are you doing here?" He said in a firm tone.

"I thought I'd surprise you," she said as she leaned in to him, pressing her body against his.

"Addison, you and I are over. You're apparently with Mark now, and I've moved on."

"Yes, with Meredith, I'm well aware of that. But come on Derek, she's a freshman. You and I were amazing together…there's no denying that…" She softly kissed his neck as he turned his head away from her. "I'm not saying it has to mean anything, just for old time's sake. You can't honestly say that Meredith, a freshman, is satisfying you." Derek continued to look away but she ran her hand behind his head, pulled his face to hers, and deeply kissed him as she moved her hands to wrap around his waist. He tried to resist her but she forcefully pushed him against the fridge and ran her leg up the outside of his as she continued to kiss him.

"Addison..." he managed to get out between her kisses.

"Shhh..." She started eagerly kissing him again, still pressing him up against the fridge and running her hands up and down his sides and then running her fingers down his stomach, which she remembered he found irresistible.

He put his hands around her waist to try to push her back just as they heard the door open and Meredith walked in. "Meredith…" he said concerned when he finally got Addison off of him. She just stood there, completely in shock for a few seconds and then turned around and ran out of the apartment as she felt herself tearing up. Addison stood there, smirking, the entire time. He turned to look at her, "You really are an evil whore. If you know what's good for you, you won't be here when I get back." He grabbed his keys that Meredith had dropped on the floor and ran after her, while Addison grabbed a piece of pizza, and walked back to his bedroom to change.

**A/N: So please don't kill me! Everything can't be perfect for our favorite couple, otherwise it'd be really boring. Everything will work out in the end, no worries! And again, I love Addie, but she's such an easy character to write as a bitch in this story. **


	35. Chapter 35

He ran down the stairs and out the front door of his building. He looked around to see where she may have gone—it had started to rain so he hoped she hadn't gotten too far. He ran down the sidewalk, looking in windows as he went by to see if she was there. He saw a bar across the street and went inside, thinking she may have gone there.

He walked in and immediately spotted her sitting at the bar with her back to him. A guy was sitting next to her with his arm around her waist, and motioned to the bartender to pour another shot of tequila. After the shot was poured, the man handed it to Meredith and she downed it like a pro.

Derek sighed and walked over to sit on the other side of her. "Double scotch, single malt." The bartender nodded and gave him the drink. He took a sip and then whispered to Meredith, "You're not 21."

"Go away."

"Meredith—"

She turned to look at him. "Leave me alone." He could tell that she had been crying, that he had made her cry, and it broke his heart.

"Meredith, please, let me explain."

"I don't want to hear it. I want you to go back to your apartment, and leave me alone."

"You heard the lady," the guy who had been sitting on the other side of her said. "Hey, bartender, another tequila for the girl."

"No, I think she's had enough." Derek grabbed her arm and made her face him. "Please, let me explain, Meredith."

"Derek, no." She got up and walked out of the bar. He quickly followed her and when she realized he was behind her, she started running. He chased her down the sidewalk through the rainstorm when she stopped, out of breath. "What do you want from me, Derek? Why can't you just leave me alone?" She started crying again.

"Meredith, I care about you too much to leave you alone. I don't want to lose you, so I need you to listen to me and let me explain."

She turned to face him. "Oh, it's pretty clear. I walk in and you're making out with your gorgeous ex-fiancée and seemed to be enjoying it quite thoroughly."

Derek's heart broke seeing her hurt like this. He put his hand on her upper arm and looked her in the eyes. "Meredith, I had no idea she was going to be there. She came out of nowhere and started kissing me. I told you she was a bitch, and this just proves it. I told her I wanted nothing to do with her, but she came onto me. I did not kiss her, and I never want to kiss her ever again. You are the only one I ever want to kiss, to be with, and to love, ever again. I love you, Meredith, and only you."

She looked back up at him and she could tell he meant it. Her tears changed from being out of pain and sadness into tears of happiness and relief. "You realize that's the first time you've said that?"

"Yes, and I mean it wholeheartedly."

She smiled, wrapped her arms around his neck, and softly kissed him. "I love you too, Derek."

"Good. I'm glad to hear it." She let out a giggle as he wiped away the last of her tears and grabbed her hand. "I have an idea."

They walked back to his car and he opened the door for her. She got in and looked at him, confused. "Where are we going?"

"You'll see," he said as he smiled and slightly squeezed her hand as he started the car and drove off.


	36. Chapter 36

**A/N: I've had some requests for longer chapters, so I'll start combining a few together in the updates, which may help as well cuz there's still a considerable amount left in this story. Anyway, some Mer/Der lovin' and fluff for you all :) **

Meredith had exhausted herself from all the crying and emotions she went through earlier that night, so she fell asleep shortly after she and Derek left in his car. Derek walked around to the passenger side, opened the door, and scooped her up to take her inside. "We're here," he quietly said as she woke up, still groggy.

She looked around and saw that they were in a really secluded area surrounded by woods. "Where is here?" She asked as he carried her toward a large wooden cabin.

He set her down on the large wrap around front porch as he took out his keys and opened the door. "This is my family's cabin. We're actually in Vermont right now."

"Oh, wow." She looked around at the high ceilings and the large rooms. "Derek, this place is beautiful! It's so breathtaking."

He came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Well, I'm glad you like it. I figured you wouldn't want to go back to my apartment after the night you had, so I thought you could use some relaxation."

She sighed and leaned back against him. "Definitely. Oh my God, how long was I asleep?"

"About two hours."

"Oh, oops. Sorry about that."

"Haha, no problem. I totally understand. Now, since we still haven't had dinner, how about we get some food?"

"Sounds good."

They went to the kitchen to find that it was only stocked with non-perishable items. "Huh. Well we don't have any real food since my family only comes here a few times a year, so we have cans of soup and that's about it. I clearly didn't think this through."

"Soup is fine, Derek."

After dinner Derek told Meredith to explore the house and take a tour while he ran upstairs to draw her a bath. Luckily his sisters had quite a selection of bath and body products, so he grabbed some lavender bubble bath to put in the tub. He lit candles all around the bathroom and turned off the lights. He ran into Meredith just as she was coming upstairs to look around. "This house is amazing, Derek."

"Good, I'm glad you're here. So are you ready for your surprise?"

"Mmhmm." He took her hand and led her into his room and then into his bathroom. She looked around at all the candles that illuminated the room. "Oh my God!"

"Do you like it?"

"Derek, I love it. And I love you." She turned around to kiss him, gently at first but then with more urgency.

"I love you too. Now, I want you to relax and enjoy your bubble bath." He walked over to the counter where he had put a CD player and turned on some soothing music.

He started to walk out of the bathroom when she stopped him. "And where do you think you're going?"

"Uh, to go do dishes and to let you relax and take your bath."

She grabbed his shirt and pulled him to her. "Uh-uh. If I'm taking a bath, then you are taking it with me." She locked eyes with him as she started unbuttoning his shirt. They slowly undressed each other, not saying anything, and never looking away from the other's eyes.

Derek got in the bubble back and held his hand out to help Meredith in. He sat down and pulled her to him, resting her back against his chest. She leaned her head back on his shoulder and let out a sigh. "Oh my God, Derek, this is so relaxing."

He wrapped his arms around her waist and hugged her tightly. "I told you it would be," he said as he kissed her shoulder. He sat her up a little bit and started massaging her back as she let out another moan. After awhile she turned around to face him, and wrapped her legs around his waist. She leaned in and gave him a soft kiss, which he gladly returned. She continued to kiss him, moving around to his neck and chest. It wasn't long before she could tell he was ready, so she carefully slid onto him. He let sighed and laid his head back while she continued to kiss him. "I love you Meredith." She locked eyes with him and kissed him again—more intensely this time.

"I love you too, Derek."

Derek stepped out of the bath first and wrapped a towel around his waist (A/N: let's just all picture that for a few minutes, shall we? Okay, moving on). He grabbed his navy terrycloth robe off of the door hook and held it out for Meredith as she stepped out of the tube. He wrapped it around her and hugged her tightly, taking in the lavender scent the bubble bath left on her neck and in her hair. She turned around in his arms and softly kissed him. "Thank you, Derek, for the bath, for tonight, for everything."

A tear slid down her cheek and he quickly kissed it away. "You are more than welcome, my dear." He wrapped his arm around her back, and guided her out of the bathroom. He went over to his dresser, grabbed a pair of plaid pajama pants, and slid them on. Meredith grabbed her tote bag she had brought up with her and quickly ran back into the bathroom to change but when she came back out she still had his robe on. "Come with me" he said as he took her hand and walked her down the hall to the loft. He grabbed a blanket off the back of the couch and some pillows, laid them down in front of the fireplace, and started a fire.

She climbed onto the blanket next to him and laid down, staring up at him. "You're amazing, you know that right?"

"Haha, of course I know that," he said as he leaned down and kissed her.

"Mmm. You're also cocky as hell." He pretended to be offended, but she just laughed at him as she grabbed the back of his head and pulled him back down to her. She kissed him, gently parting his lips with her tongue as she ran her fingers through his curly hair that was still slightly damp.

He rolled onto his back and pulled her on top of him as he ran his hands up her sides. She sat up so she was straddling him and he untied his robe that she was wearing and slid it off her shoulder, revealing a dark pink (almost red) satin slip. "God you're beautiful," he said as he smiled up at her.

"Well, you're pretty easy on the eyes as well." She laughed and bent back down to kiss him. She ran her fingers down his bare abdomen and down his sides, eventually making their way to the ties on his pajama bottoms. She carefully slid down his pants and he rolled over so she was underneath him. He kissed her neck and down her chest as she ran her fingers through his hair and let out a moan. He slid his hands up her thighs and under her slip, and smiled when he realized she didn't have anything else on. He kissed her thighs and up her stomach, which sent a shiver went down her spine. She pulled his head back up to hers and deeply kissed him as he entered her. She arched her back as he continued to pump harder, and he ran his hands up and down her side. They both trembled as they finished and he rolled over next to her, out of breath.

"Seriously, no matter how many times we do that it keeps getting better," he said as he looked over at her.

She laughed. "No kidding." She rolled on her side and snuggled up to him, resting her hand on his chest, draping one leg across his, and leaning her head on his shoulder.

He pulled her in as close to him as he could and looked in her eyes. He held her gaze for a few seconds. "I love you," he said as he smiled.

"I love you too." She gently brought her lips up to his and quickly kissed him goodnight before curling up in his arms. He pulled the blanket on top of them to keep them warm, and they laid there, watching the fire until they drifted asleep.


	37. Chapter 37

Derek woke up the next morning and smiled when he looked down to see Meredith cuddled up against his chest, both of them wrapped up in the flannel blanket on the floor in front of the now extinguished fire. He hugged her, bringing her closer to him, causing her to stir. "Mmm…good morning," she said without opening her eyes.

"Good morning beautiful," he said as he kissed the top of her head.

"Ahem."

Derek turned his head to see his parents standing behind the couch in the loft. "Oh shit."

"What?" Meredith asked, still half asleep. She followed Derek's gaze and saw a man and a women in their early fifties standing a few feet away. "Oh." She blushed and Derek started laughing.

"Uh hi Mom, Dad. Uh, can you give us a few minutes?"

"We'll be downstairs," his mom said as she turned around.

As soon as Derek saw his parents leave, he wrapped the blanket around his waist, handed the robe back to Meredith, and ran back to his room to change. "Well, that was humiliating. What a way to make an introduction," Meredith said annoyed.

"Sorry about that. I didn't know they would be coming here today."

"That seems to be a theme with you this weekend." Meredith grabbed a pair of jeans, changed out of her slip, and threw on her grey Dartmouth long sleeve shirt.

"Okay, you have to admit that was a little funny."

"Yeah, what a great first impression: 'Hi, I'm Meredith, the girl who screwed your son all last night and you walking in on this morning.'"

"Okay, first of all," Derek said as he threw on a pair of pants, "it's not like they actually walked in on us in the act. Secondly, we were pretty well covered in the blanket, and you had your slip on, so for all they know we fell asleep in front of the fire—they don't need to know that we had sex. Thirdly, they'll love you regardless." Meredith rolled her eyes as she ran a brush through her hair. "Are you ready to meet them for real now?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"No, not really. You'll eventually have to leave this room, and when you do they'll want to meet the girl I've told them so much about."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously."

"Fine, let's get this over with." They left his room and Derek put an encouraging arm around Meredith's waist as they walked down the stairs to the kitchen where his parents were making coffee.

"Hi Mom," he said as he went over and gave his mom a kiss on the cheek and Meredith sat down at the island.

"Hi sweetie, I made you some coffee, just the way you like it." She poured Derek a cup and handed it to him.

"Thanks, Mom. Mom, I'd like you to meet my girlfriend Meredith. Meredith, this is my mom, Carolyn Shepherd."

"Hi Meredith, it's so great to finally meet you! I've heard a lot of good things about you." Carolyn handed Meredith a cup of coffee and smiled.

Meredith couldn't tell if his mom was being sarcastic or not, but she seemed to be a nice woman. "It's nice to meet you too." She sipped her coffee.

"Mom, where's Dad?"

"Oh, he's bringing things in from the car." Just as she said that, Derek's father walked in.

"Oh Dad—this is Meredith. Meredith, this is my dad, Joseph."

"You can call me Joe," he said as he put the suitcases next to wall and shook Meredith's hand. "So, how did you two meet?"

Meredith looked over at Derek and blushed. "Go ahead, Meredith." Derek said, smiling.

She shot him a powerful look, and then started talking. "Well, um…it was my first night at Dartmouth, and my roommate and another one of our friends decided to go to this fraternity party across the street. I met Derek randomly at the beginning of the party, then my roommate got tired and so we were getting ready to leave, but I ran into Derek again before I had the chance to leave, so my friend took my roommate back and I stayed and talked with Derek for awhile. Then it got late, so he walked me back to my dorm."

Derek chuckled at her blatant omission from the story. "Then it turned out I was her TA in her organic chem lab, and then we kept running into each other, so we decided to start going out."

"And that's not against the University rules?" Carolyn asked.

"No, not really. It's not like I'm her professor, and in two weeks I won't be her TA anymore, either."

"Oh, okay then."

They spent the rest of the morning talking and getting to know Meredith, and they seemed to genuinely like her. "Derek, she seems really sweet," his mom said when they were alone in the kitchen cleaning up. "I really like her—aside from my first impression of her, but she seems like a nice girl. Don't screw it up."

"Haha, thanks Mom. And I won't."


	38. Chapter 38

**A/N: I was running out of ideas and didn't want to make this drag on too long and wanted to get to my next major plot development, so this skips forward a bit. There are probably 9 or so chapters left in this story, so it'll be done before next week is over. Sad, I know. Anyway, if you're reading this author's note, you're in the homestretch so you may as well keep reading :) And keep the reviews coming...I love reading them and you guys rock! **

The next few months flew by. Meredith ended up spending Thanksgiving with Derek's family at their cabin in Vermont. She met his sisters and their families, and she seemed to fit in perfectly (his youngest sister, Jana, even told Derek that Meredith would make a wonderful addition to the Shepherd family one day). They really appreciated Meredith's sincerity and how down-to-earth she was, unlike Addison who came from a wealthy family in New York and flaunted it—Addison never failed to let anyone know that she was "Old Money." Meredith went back to Boston for Christmas, and Derek went back to New York, but flew out to Boston one weekend to surprise Meredith for New Year's Eve. Meredith barely saw her mother during the break since she was always working, but Meredith enjoyed the peace and quiet, and the alone time with Derek in Boston.

Addison had finally left Derek alone, and was continuing to date and/or sleep with Mark He had slowly begun to forgive Mark when he realized that Mark did have real feelings for Addison (Derek didn't know whether Addison felt the same way, but he didn't really care). Cristina had randomly hooked up with another TA in their organic chem class during a review session during finals week, Preston Burke, and they continued to keep their relationship secret (Cristina still tried to deny there was a relationship, but she was falling for him). George and Olivia were still dating, but it was more of a casual friends with benefits type of thing—they weren't really in a relationship.

When they came back from winter break, Derek was no longer her TA so they were able to be much more open about their relationship. Derek had started his clinical rotation at the University's hospital, so he and Meredith didn't get to spend as much time together as they would have liked to, but their relationship was stronger than ever.

It was now the beginning of February…

Meredith and Cristina were in there dorm room Thursday afternoon going over their organic chemistry homework. "So what are you and Burke doing for Valentine's Day tomorrow?"

"I have no idea. I've never been a real supporter of the holiday, but Burke is Burke and will probably have something planned," Cristina said rolling her eyes. "What about you and McDreamy?"

"He has to work all weekend at the hospital, so I don't know. I think I'm going to surprise him tomorrow night and bring him dinner or something when he has an hour or so free."

"I much rather spend Valentine's Day working at the hospital than eating dinner at some shmancy fancy restaurant—nothing is better than surgery."

"You are a strange girl Cristina Yang…seriously."

Cristina just shrugged.

GAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGA

Meredith awoke early Friday morning to her phone ringing. "Hello?" She answered still half-asleep.

"Good morning beautiful," she heard Derek's voice on the line. "Happy Valentine's Day."

"Happy Valentine's Day to you too, Derek," she said smiling.

"I'm sorry I can't be there with you tonight. It figures they'd put me on the surgical clinicals—the busiest of all of them—during February. Next month I'm on gynecology though, so I shouldn't be nearly as busy."

"Don't worry about it, Derek. Believe me, I understand how crazy hospitals are—especially surgery. There were weeks where I never even saw my mother."

"Well, I don't want to go weeks without seeing you. I have Monday off though, so I say we spend the whole day together."

"It sounds like a plan."

"Excellent. So what are your plans for tonight?"

"Um, I'm not sure. I think one of the frats is having an anti-Valentine's Day party, so maybe that?"

"Alright, well be safe and I love you."

"I love you too." She hung up the phone and smiled at her plan.


	39. Chapter 39

**A/N: Since so many people commented on my last update today, I'll do this one too :) You guys ROCK! **

Late Friday afternoon Meredith decided to start getting ready to surprise Derek. She knew he had an official break from his clinicals from 6 o'clock to 9 o'clock that night, so she was planning to bring him a picnic dinner. She put on a semi-dressy short black skirt and a cute red halter top that wasn't too revealing, but enough to drive him crazy. She called a cab and had it take her to the hospital.

Meredith arrived at the hospital and took the elevator up to the surgical floor. She found an empty on-call room and asked a new nurse (who wouldn't know better) to page Derek Shepherd immediately, and then went into the on-call room to wait.

Less than five minutes went by when the on-call room door opened. "Hello?" She heard Derek's voice call out as he entered the dark room, "Did someone page me?"

"I did," Meredith said as she got up off the bed, rested her hands on his stomach, and lightly kissed him.

"Mmm, why hello," Derek said.

Meredith pulled back a bit and flipped on the lights, revealing the picnic dinner that she had prepared for him. "Surprise!"

"You, my dear, are amazing," he said as he wrapped his arms around her waist from behind and kissed her cheek. "And what do you know, I have a dinner break right about now."

"Huh…well would you look at how that worked out."

They sat down on the floor around the blanket she set out and ate the dinner she made—Reuben sandwiches, salad, and Welch's sparkling grape juice (since he was officially on duty and couldn't drink). "I am really sorry I had to work tonight," he said.

"Don't worry about it. I don't need a fancy dinner or anything to celebrate some Hallmark holiday…I just wanted to spend time with you."

"Well, this is amazing—you are amazing. And I have something for you—" He reached into the cargo pocket of his scrub pants and pulled out a small black velvet box that had a small red bow on it. "This is for you. Happy Valentine's Day."

She took the box and opened it up, and inside was a white gold Claddagh ring. "Oh my God, Derek…it's beautiful!"

He took it from her and slipped it on her right ring finger, careful to put it on the proper way. "Do you know the story of the Claddagh?"

"Vaguely."

"Well, long story short, it's an Irish tradition, and when the heart faces the person wearing the ring, everyone can see she is in a relationship and unavailable, but when the heart faces out, her heart is open and looking for someone."

"Well, I'll make sure to keep the heart facing me then. Thank you, I love it." She gave him a kiss, and he responded by pulling her closer. The kissing got a bit more intense and he rolled over her on the picnic blanket.

"Did you lock the door?" She asked between kisses.

"Mmmhmm."

"Good." She lifted his scrub shirt over his head and tossed it aside as his hand roamed up her thigh and under her skirt. Before they got much farther he heard his pager go off.

"Damn, I have to take this. I'm sorry."

"I understand…the life of a surgeon."

"Well, a surgeon in training. I'll call you later?"

"You better."

He gave her a quick kiss as he straightened out his scrub shirt. "Thank you for dinner, and Happy Valentine's Day. I love you."

"I love you too."


	40. Chapter 40

**A/N: So there are some random new characters in this chapter because I needed people who weren't main characters...don't worry about trying to find out more about them, or even remembering their names...they're only in here for this chapter. And I totally have a plan with everything, so no worries! The next few chapters are going to be emotionally-charged, but remember that this is a Mer/Der fic in the end :) **

Meredith took a cab back to her dorm around 8 o'clock that night and decided to go out with some of her other friends from her floor to one of the frat's "Anti-Valentine's Day" party later that night. She ran a brush through her hair and reapplied her makeup, but kept on the same outfit since she looked cute and had just bought the halter and wanted to get some use out of it. Around 10:30 she heard a knock on her door, and she left to go to the party with Amanda, Morgan, and Todd after a few shots of vodka to "pregame" the party.

They walked across the street to the same frat where Meredith met Derek her first night and went inside to find half the campus dancing in the frat's living room. "C'mon, let's go dance!" Amanda pulled Meredith and Morgan onto the dance floor while Todd went to find his girlfriend who would be meeting him there.

After a few songs the girls decided to go upstairs to get some drinks, and Meredith found herself in the same room she met Derek in, which brought a smile to her face. "What can I get for you?" A guy said who was standing behind the bar.

"Umm…a shot of tequila would be nice."

"Coming right up. I'm Chase by the way."

"Meredith." He poured her a shot and she downed it.

"Got any rum back there?" Morgan asked Chase.

"Indeed I do. Here you go," he poured her a shot of Captain Morgan, which she promptly drank and then chugged part of a beer as a chaser. "If you need anything else don't hesitate to ask," Chase said as he winked at the girls and walked away.

"He's hot," Morgan whispered to Meredith.

"Go for it," Meredith suggested. "You're single, right?"

"Yeah…you think I should?"

"Why not? You're single, he's cute…"

"Point taken…I'll be back."

"Where's Morgan going?" Amanda asked as she came up next to Meredith.

"Some guy named Chase was flirting with her so she's going to go try to get hers."

"Haha, nice."

"So where have you been?" Meredith asked Amanda.

"Oh, I ran into some people I met a few weeks ago at a party…I thought I'd say hi. Todd finally found his girlfriend, and is otherwise occupied in a bathroom stall right about now."

"Oh nice…very classy."

"I know, right?" Amanda laughed.

"Hey, you're Meredith, right?" Meredith turned around to see Jake, a guy she had met at a frat party the weekend before.

"Yeah…Jake is it?"

"Yeah."

"Oh, Jake, this is my hall-mate Amanda, Amanda, this is Jake."

"Nice to meet you Jake. Oh Meredith, I just saw the guy from my history class, I'll be back!"

"Good luck Amanda!" Meredith called after her friend as she grabbed a cup and poured herself a beer.

"So enjoying the anti-Valentine's Day festivities?" He asked her.

"I guess."

"You guess?"

"Well I'm not really 'anti-Valentine's Day', but it's something to do, so I'm not complaining."

"Do you have a boyfriend?"

"I do actually."

"How come you aren't spending today with him then?"

"I had dinner with him earlier, but he's in med school so he's ridiculously busy at the hospital."

"Oh, gotcha."

"What about you…no girlfriend to spend today with?"

"No…we broke up about a week ago. She was cheating on me."

"Oh, I'm sorry. That really sucks."

"Yeah, you're telling me."

Just then Morgan walked back in the room and Meredith waved her over. "Hey, how'd it go?"

"Ugh…he has a girlfriend. What kind of guy is spending Valentine's Day at an Anti-Valentine's Day party if he isn't single?"

"That's a good question," Meredith said as she finished the rest of her beer. "Oh, Jake, this is Morgan, Morgan, this is Jake."

They shook hands and continued to talk when Morgan's roommate came over stumbling drunk. "Uh, Meredith…I think I'm going to take Jess back to the dorm so she doesn't die of alcohol poisoning or something…I'll see you later. Tell Amanda to give me a call later."

"Alright, bye."


	41. Chapter 41

**A/N: Again, apologizing in advanced, but please have faith! And remember, not everything can be bright and shiny! Also, I know this chapter is a bit shorter, but it's easier to break these up a bit, plus some of the next ones are pretty long. With that said...  
**

The next morning Meredith woke up with what felt like the worst hangover of her life. She squinted as she looked up at the light coming in through the window, not recognizing where she was. She looked over and saw two half naked people passed out on a bed, and quickly realized she was in the frat house she went to the night before, but she didn't recognize the room she was in. She tried to stand up but when she did she realized her entire body ached. She caught her reflection in the mirror and saw that she had a hickey on her neck. She started to get worried since she couldn't remember anything after Morgan left the party last night with her roommate, so she stumbled around the room looking for her shoes, which she eventually found. She was relieved to see she still had her clothes on, minus the panties she knew she had on the night before. She walked out of the house, choking back tears afraid that she got too drunk and cheated on Derek.

She stumbled back to her dorm and opened the door to find Cristina passed out in the bed next to a shirtless Preston Burke. Meredith grabbed her robe and went to go shower, but when she got into the bathroom she noticed she had bruising all over her stomach and thighs, and that she was slightly bleeding. She realized what must have happened and knew showering would be the worst thing she could do in this situation, so she went back to her room and got dressed, still suppressing tears that were welling up in her eyes. She gently shook Cristina to wake her. "Cristina."

"What," she said flatly.

"I need you to come with me."

"What? Where?" She said with her eyes still closed.

"To the hospital…I think…" she started to cry, "I think I was raped."

"WHAT?" Cristina jumped up which woke up her boyfriend.

"Cristina, what in God's name is going on."

"Uh, go back to sleep Burke." She turned her attention to Meredith and lowered her voice. "What?"

"Last night…." By now she was nearly sobbing. "I think…just please come with me."

"Of course." Cristina threw on a sweatshirt over her tank top and grabbed her purse and left their room.

Cristina hailed a cab and she and Meredith headed to the hospital. Every time Meredith attempted to tell Cristina what she thought happened she burst into tears, so Christina just let Meredith lay her head on her shoulder as they rode in silence to the hospital.

**A/N: So I'm hoping that you guys won't stop reading considering what I just made happen, but along with a good Mer/Der storyline full of twists and turns, I wanted it to be realistic, and this kind of thing does happen on college campuses. There are only 6 more chapters after this, so it will be done by mid-next week, if not earlier (I'm aiming for one update/day)**


	42. Chapter 42

**A/N: Just a fair warning...the next few chapters will have some very technical (aka anatomical references), and I'm assuming you're all mature and over the age of 13, but if not, then uh...read with your own discretion I guess. **

They walked into the ER and were lead to an exam room. Cristina helped Meredith change into a hospital gown as they waited for the gynecologist to come in. "Cristina?"

"Yeah Mer?"

"Will you wait here with me?"

"Of course. If you need anything let me know."

Just then the doctor walked in. "Hi, Ms. Grey? I'm Dr. Anne Lukas."

"Hi," Meredith said in a quiet voice as she looked down at her hands while she sat on the exam table Indian style.

"So what seems to be the problem?"

"I um….I think I was raped last night." Meredith started to choke up again.

"Can you tell me what happened? Do you remember anything?"

"Not really. I was at a frat party, I had a few drinks, and then the next thing I remember I woke up this morning in some random room. Then I went to shower but saw all the bruising and that I was bleeding, so I came here instead." Meredith wiped the tears from her eyes.

"Okay, well you did the right thing. First things first. We're going to give you a blood test to see if you were drugged and to check for STDs, then we'll do a vaginal exam and a rape kit. We can also give you a morning after pill."

"Okay."

Dr. Lukas turned to Cristina, "Would you mind giving us some privacy?"

"Meredith?" Cristina looked at her friend to see if she was okay to do this alone.

"I'm fine, thanks."

"Okay…I'll be outside." Cristina squeezed Meredith's hand and walked out of the room.

Dr. Lukas drew some blood from Meredith, and then started the exam. "There is definitely some minor bleeding from some vaginal tearing, and quite a bit of bruising. I don't mean to be insensitive, but prior to last night have you done anything that would account for these injuries? Have you had any sex that would be considered 'rough' recently?"

"Not unusually so, no…" Meredith said, still trying to hold back tears.

"Okay. Well I'm going to take a swab to try to test for DNA, and we'll hand it over to the police and run DNA tests with all the records here and at the police station to see if there's a match. Do you know who may have done this to you?"

"Maybe…I was talking to this guy I know last night, and that's the last thing I remember. I don't think he would have done it because he's a really nice guy, but I can't be sure."

"Okay, well the police will want to come here and talk to you and get an official report. In the mean time I'm going to transfer you up to the OBGYN floor. I just want to keep you here overnight to make sure all your bleeding stops and we would also like you to talk with a psychologist—it's just hospital protocol for all rape cases."

"Okay, fine."

"Also, is there anyone you want us to call? Parents maybe..."

"No. My roommate is outside, and she's all I need right now." She thought about having them call Derek, but she knew he was probably home sleeping because he had just finished a really long shift, and she didn't want to worry him--she also couldn't imagine telling him what happened to her.

They moved Meredith up to the OBGYN floor and Cristina waited with her for the doctor to come back with the results.

"Hi Ms. Grey," Dr. Lukas said.

"Please call me Meredith, since we're talking about, well you know, we may as well get familiar."

"Okay, Meredith, the results of your STD tests were all negative, so that is a major relief. You should still get tested in 3 months to make sure, but as of now you seem to be in the clear. Secondly, there were traces of Rohypnol in your blood sample, so someone definitely slipped something into your drink last night. Thirdly, the rape kit found residue of latex, most likely from a condom, and some semen as well, so they are running DNA tests on that to see if it matches anyone in the system."

"Oh god." Meredith started to tear up again.

"It'll be okay Meredith," Cristina said, trying to be supportive but not really knowing what to say.

"I'm going to inject some Levonorgestrel into your IV to be on the safe side so you don't get pregnant from the rape. You may feel some side effects from this—nausea, vomiting, stomach cramps, etc., but if something doesn't feel right please let me know."

"Thanks."

"I'll be back in a little bit to check on you. If you have anymore questions have the nurse page me."

"Okay."

"Hey Meredith, I'm going to go get some food and coffee, do you want anything?" Cristina asked.

"Yeah, get me a sandwich or something…whatever looks edible."

"Okay. I'll be back in a few."

"Hey Cristina?"

"Yeah Mer?"

"Thank you. For everything."

Cristina smiled. "You're welcome."


	43. Chapter 43

Meredith laid back in her bed and closed her eyes trying to get a grasp of everything that was going on. She was raped, but she didn't know who did it. The DNA test probably wouldn't tell them anything since most Dartmouth students aren't in the criminal records system. But what if she hadn't been raped? What if she had consented and was just really drunk? She knew they had found traces of the date rape drug in her system, but that just erases your memory and makes you absorb alcohol quicker, it doesn't always make you pass out. She easily could have blacked out and consented to it while she was out—this realization made her start to cry harder.

Meanwhile, Cristina went down to the end of the hall where there was a mini-mart type store. She made a cup of coffee for herself and grabbed a pre-made turkey sandwich out of the fridge for Meredith.

"Cristina Yang." Cristina turned around when she heard a voice behind her. "What brings you here? Trying to get a leg up on medical experience already?"

"Oh, uh, hi Derek." Cristina didn't know what to say to him, so she walked away and back down the hall while Derek poured himself some coffee.

"It was good talking to you!" He called out after her. "That was weird," he said under his breath as he paid for his drink and walked out of the store to get back to work.

Cristina walked back into Meredith's room and handed her the sandwich. "So I just ran into Derek in the mini-mart."

"What?" Meredith's eyes widened as she took a bite of the sandwich. "What did you say to him?"

"Nothing. He asked me if I was trying to get ahead in medical experience or something, and I just looked at him and walked away."

"Okay good."

"Why don't you want him to know?" Cristina asked as she sat down on the foot of the bed.

"It's just too much to deal with right now. I know if I tell him he'll be all supportive and nice, or he'll go on a rampage and threaten to kill whoever I slept with, but I can't deal with it…besides…" she started to tear up again. "I can't remember what happened because of the alcohol and the drug, but what if I wasn't raped? What if I consented? What if I cheated on Derek?"

"Meredith, you didn't. Even if you did, you were drugged…you weren't being you. And Dr. Lukas said there was a lot of bruising and bleeding, and if it was consensual that wouldn't be the case."

"I guess you're right. I just don't want to tell him right now…I'm not ready yet."

"I understand."

"You have to run interference for me…make sure he doesn't find out I'm here."

"I'll do my best."

** A/N: I know this one is short, but the next one is twice as long, I swear! (this was like 480 words, and the next one is nearly 1000, so yeah). I wrote this story all as one long ass thing and posted it on fanficga, so it was broken up really weirdly cuz i'd post it as I wrote more, but here I tried to group everything as themes while occassionally leaving cliff hangers, so that's why some chapters are shorter than others. Only a few more to go!**


	44. Chapter 44

Later that afternoon Cristina had to leave for a study group meeting, but she promised Meredith that she would be back as soon as she could. Meredith finally seemed to be done crying, and was flipping through the channels when the door opened.

"Hello Meredith, how are you doing?" Dr. Lukas said as she walked in the room.

"Better, thanks."

"I'd like to introduce one of our first year OBGYN interns, Dr. Marek, and two of our medical school students, Addison Montgomery and Mark Sloan."

"Shit."

"I'm sorry, is there a problem Meredith?" Dr. Lukas asked.

"Yes, is there a problem Meredith?" Addison echoed with a smirk.

"Addie, be nice," Mark said.

"No, no problem. I've just met the two med students before."

"Oh, well okay then. Dr. Marek is going to do a quick follow up exam…now do you have anymore questions?"

"Uh, no."

"Addison, why don't we wait outside," Mark suggested.

"Why Mark? We're here to learn…unless Meredith has a problem with it, which you don't, do you Meredith?"

Meredith looked into Addison's glaring eyes and Meredith wasn't about to back down to Addison's angry stare. "If you're really that interested in my vagina Addison, then by all means, do whatever you want. I really couldn't care less what you do."

"So what brings you by, Meredith…pregnancy? I notice Derek isn't by your side…is it even his?" Addison challenged.

"Addison!" Mark yelled.

"Did I miss something here?" Dr. Lukas asked as Dr. Marek put Meredith's feet into the stirrups.

"No, not at all Dr. Lukas," Mark said. "Addison and I will be right back."

"Mark what are you doing? Let go of me," Addison whined as Mark dragged her by the arm out into the hallway.

"Meredith was raped, she doesn't need you in there making her life harder than it already is."

"What?"

"You didn't read the chart?"

"No, I just assumed OBGYN would be a pregnancy thing."

"Well you assumed wrong. You should not be in there. Clearly Meredith isn't your biggest fan, especially after that stunt you pulled when she and Derek were eating dinner and I was out of town…"

Addison sighed, "You know about that?"

"Yeah…Derek told me."

"How come you haven't said anything prior to right now?"

"Because I love you Addison, and I know that that was just a stupid move on your part to piss off Meredith, and that there wasn't anything behind it. Besides, given the way we started I can't exactly say I'm surprised." Mark turned and walked down the hall.

Addison walked after him. "Mark…I'm sorry. You know I didn't mean it. I was just pissed off and wanted to get revenge."

He turned around. "Why Addie? Why do you have to get revenge? If I remember correctly you were the one who cheated on Derek, with me. You made me the bad guy. You made my best friend hate me. You made the decision to have sex with me while you were engaged to him, so what makes you think you need to get revenge? You have nothing to get revenge for unless you still have feelings for Derek."

"I don't Mark—you know that. You and I are so much better than Derek and I ever were. He and I had no passion, no feelings other than friendship…nothing. I don't know why I wanted revenge…it wasn't really revenge, I just wanted to hurt him."

Mark saw the stares from nurses and grabbed Addison's arm and pulled her into a supply closet. "You don't think sleeping with me hurt him enough? Having him walk in on us didn't hurt him badly enough?"

Addison let out a sigh. "It's just…he moved on so quickly…like I meant nothing to him. I wanted to hurt her too, I guess. You and I moved on quickly too, but we were already sleeping together for a month before he caught us, so it was just that we continued on."

"Addison, you said so yourself that you two were just going through the motions. You can't be mad at him for trying to be happy. And you can't drag Meredith into whatever leftover agenda you have with him—she doesn't deserve it. And more importantly, you shouldn't' be accusing her of cheating on Derek—she's not you."

"Excuse me? What did you just say?"

"I'm sorry. Believe me, I'm happy you cheated on Derek, because it meant I got to be with you. You know what I mean though—that girl is going through hell in there, and she doesn't need you to accuse her of being a whore on top of recovering from a brutal attack."

"You're right, I'm sorry."

"I'm not the one you should be apologizing to, Addison."

"Yeah…" She turned and walked out of the supply closet and down the hall to go catch up with her intern and resident and to continue rounding on other patients.

**A/N: So I love Mark in this chapter, I really do. He's a genuine, caring, non-asshole, unlike his first few major storylines on Grey's this season. Addison is a bitch, but I love the girl--just not in this story. But she'll have the chance to redeem herself later on, so you'll have to stay tuned to see if she takes advantage and does so, or if she is still a bitch when the story ends. Also, in the next chapter or so you'll see more Derek, and what happens with that. **


	45. Chapter 45

**A/N: This is short, but the next one is long, and then only one more. More Mer/Der goodness for you. And a few of you have mentioned that it notifies you of a new chapter, but then it won't load it. This has been irritating me to no end, and it will sometimes notify me of the stories I'm tracking before they're written, or it will notify me of the same chapters being added over and over again. It's screwed up, but there's nothing I can do.  
**

Derek was walking down the hall when he happened to glance through a window on a door, causing him to do a double take. "Meredith?" He asked no one in particular. He knocked on the door lightly and opened it. "Meredith?" He asked again, tentatively as he walked in the room.

"Derek! What are you doing here?" She asked, startled as she sat up in the bed.

"I work here. The better question is what are you doing here? Are you okay?" He asked as he walked over to her bed.

"I'm fine Derek, really."

"Well, clearly you're not because you're in a hospital gown and in a hospital bed with a hospital bracelet on your wrist. I was wondering why you weren't returning any of my phone calls."

"I don't have my phone with me." A tear rolled down her cheek so she bowed her head to try to hide it.

Derek saw the tear and sat down on the edge of the bed. "Meredith, tell me what happened."

She wiped the tear away and looked away from him out the window. "Derek…" She sniffled.

"Whatever it is, we'll make it through it. Are you pregnant? Do you have ovarian cysts or something?"

"No…" She started to cry again, so Derek placed his hand over hers. She looked him in the eyes as she took a deep breath, "Derek, I was raped."

His expression immediately fell as he looked at her tear stained face and stood up. He walked over to the side of the room and started pacing back and forth as he ran his fingers through his hair, trying to avoid looking at her.

"Derek, say something. Say anything. You're scaring me." She said as she started to cry harder.

He turned around and faced her, and she could tell he had been crying. "How…what…who?"

"I…I don't know," she said, looking down again. "I went to the party after I left here last night, and I guess someone drugged me. I woke up this morning at the frat house and couldn't remember anything, so Cristina brought me here."

Derek realized that's why Cristina was at the hospital earlier and asking so weird. "Did they do a rape kit?"

"Yeah…I haven't heard anything other than I had roofies in my blood stream."

Derek walked over and sat back down on the bed. "How are you feeling? Do you need anything?"

"Just you." She slid over so he could sit next to her on the bed, and he carefully and slowly wrapped his arm around her, careful not to overwhelm her. She shuttered a little at first, but then rested her head on his shoulder. "Derek?"

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry."

"For what? It's not your fault."

"I…I'm not so sure."

"What? What are you talking about?" He looked down at her and wiped a tear away.

"What if I didn't say no? What if it wasn't rape?"

"Meredith, you were drugged, so you weren't acting on your own free will. You have nothing to be sorry for."

"Well I'm sorry I didn't call you earlier."

"Shhh…I'm here now and that's all that matters."

"Derek?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you." He kissed the top of her head and gently twirled her hair around his fingers as she drifted to sleep.


	46. Chapter 46

Derek eventually fell asleep as well. "Derek Shepherd? What are you doing here?"

"Oh, Dr. Lukas, hi," he said whispering, trying not to wake up Meredith.

"Again, what are you doing here?" She asked, more sternly this time.

"Oh, um…"

Just as he was about to answer Meredith woke up. "What's with all the loud talking?" Meredith asked groggily as she wrapped her arm around Derek's chest.

"Meredith," Derek said, nodding toward the doctor.

"Oh. Right. Hi Dr. Lukas."

Derek wiggled free of Meredith's grasp and stood up. "Uh, I'm going to go…I'll come back and check on you later, okay?"

"No, don't leave." Meredith pleaded.

Derek looked between Meredith and Dr. Lukas, "okay Mer, I'll stay."

"Well, this explains a lot, actually." Dr. Lukas said, a look of realization coming over her face.

"I'm sorry?" Meredith asked.

"Well we got the results of your rape kit back. As I said earlier, when we did the initial test there were traces of latex, probably from a condom, and some semen. When we tested this we ran it through all the records we have. When we hire new employees we automatically put them in the system for legal reasons, and the match we had for the semen found in your rape kit was from Derek Shepherd."

Meredith started laughing, and Derek did as well. "I'm sorry," she said. "I have really inappropriate reactions to stress like this."

"Well, I'm sorry to say we didn't find any other matches because Derek's semen was the only sample found. Now, forgive the intrusion, but when you two had sex at anytime during the past three days, did you use a condom?"

Meredith looked over at Derek, still trying to stifle her giggles. "Um…I don't think so? We only had sex once in the past week since you've been working so much and we didn't that time…Why?"

"If you two didn't use a condom, then that means the latex residue we found would have had to be from whoever did this to you."

"Oh, okay. That's good right? Because that lowers my risk of anything?"

"Yes and no. It's still possible that something could have gotten through, which is why we gave you the morning after pill and said that you should be tested again in a month for STDS, but yes, the chances are fairly slim that you could have contracted anything, especially since no DNA was found. But it will be a lot harder to find out who did this since there is no DNA."

"Well, at least I don't have to worry about the STD thing, hopefully…" Meredith said.

"Now, I'm going to spare you two the safe sex speech, because I'm sure you're aware of everything and I think you've been through enough embarrassing questions about your sex life with one of our med students for today."

"Thank you, Dr. Lukas," Meredith said as Derek blushed.

"Alright, well I'll be back in a little bit to check on you. I'd still like you to stay the night and then you can be discharged in the morning." Meredith nodded. "And I will see you Tuesday when you start my rotation, Derek."

"Yes Dr. Lukas," he said. As soon as Dr. Lukas closed the door they both burst out into laughter. "Well that was…."

"Awkward," Meredith said. "But thank you for being here."

"No problem."

A few minutes later there was a knock on the door and Addison walked in. "Oh, sorry, I didn't know you had company, I'll come back later…"

"No, it's fine. Whatever you have to say you can say in front of Derek."

"Okay then." Addison took a deep breath and walked over to the end of the bed. "Meredith, I'd just like to apologize for earlier. I didn't have a chance to look at your chart since I was late for rounds and I had assumed since you were on the OB floor it was for pregnancy. So I'm truly sorry for everything."

Derek looked back and forth between the two women, clearly confused, but Meredith spoke up. "Thank you, Addison."

"You're welcome. Get some rest." Addison left the room and closed the door behind her, letting out a sigh of relief.

"Doesn't that feel better?" Mark said as he approached her from the nurse's station smirking.

"You're an ass, you know that right? You knew Derek was in there when you told me to go in."

"Yeah, but it needed to be done."

"Fine, you're right. Can we move on now please?"

"Sure…crappy hospital cafeteria dinner?"

"I'd love to."

Back in the room Derek just looked over at Meredith completely dumbfounded. "What was that about?"

"Oh nothing…you're right, she's a bitch. But it was very big of her to come in here and apologize."

"Right…but what was she apologizing for?"

"She was assigned to Dr. Lukas's resident this morning for rounds, so she and Mark were here during one of my exams. She didn't read the chart I guess and accused me of being pregnant and not knowing who the father was since you weren't in the room at that time. Mark dragged her out of the room and bitched at her I think. But yeah…"

"Oh my God…wow, when I'm wrong about a person I'm really wrong…She had no right to say that to you."

"I know, but it's fine, really. I'm fine."

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, well I really need to go to the bathroom and get something to eat…you want anything?"

"Sure. Surprise me."

"Okay, I'll be back soon."

** A/N: So this was the penultimate chapter. One more chapter of this story, and that's it! I hope you guys have enjoyed reading it as much as I've enjoyed writing it. I'm sad to see it end, but alas, all good things must come to a close.  
**


	47. Chapter 47

**A/N: Thank you guys so much for reading, and I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I don't know if I'll be writing another story anytime soon, but if I do, I'll put a little link at the end of this one when I do. Also, to the person who suggested a new story line to me...I really like that idea, but I don't want to take someone else's idea, so if you can find the original author so I can PM her and see if she minds if I do it, then I'll consider it. If any of you have any original plot ideas that you want someone to write, PM me and I'll see what I can do (cuz right now I have zero ideas. lol)**

**And without further ado, the conclusion to the Mer/Der college saga... **

Meredith was released the next morning to go back to school. She saw a psychologist at the hospital twice a week to work through the emotional issues of her rape. They never found out who assaulted her since there wasn't any DNA evidence and no one confessed, and the guy she knew, Jake, couldn't have done it because he ended up leaving earlier with someone else--it was probably some random drunk frat guy. But anyway, Meredith was much more careful when she went to parties, refusing to be left alone with anyone she didn't know really well. Derek gave her all the time she needed before he did as much as kiss her, and it was about two months later when she was ready to sleep with him again.

"Are you sure you want to do this? Are you sure you're ready?" He asked her as they laid in front of the fireplace at his apartment and she kissed his neck.

"Yes. Derek, I've missed you so much, and I may never be 100 percent ready, but the longer we wait the harder it will be."

He looked into her eyes and could see the emotion behind them, and how much she needed him to be there for her emotionally and physically. "Okay," he said softly as he rolled over her and kissed her gently. They slowly undressed each other—he wanted to take his time to make sure she was truly comfortable and ready, and she wanted to savor the moment because she had missed him terribly. He carefully entered her and he heard her let out a gasp as she dug her nails into his back. He looked into her eyes to make sure she was still okay and her eyes were dark and full of pent up emotion. She ran her fingers through his hair as she brought his face down to hers and kissed him deeply.

"I love you Derek."

"I love you too Meredith."

FIN (French for "The End")


End file.
